N,N-diethylhydroxylamine: a new electron donor to photosystem II

Diethylhydroxylamine, when added to beet spinach thylakoid membranes in the reaction mixture enhanced both photosystem II mediated dichlorophenolindophenol photoreduction and whole chain electron transport supported by methyl viologen. Diethylhydroxylamine supports dichlorophenolindophenol photoreduction when oxygen evolving complex is inactivated by hydroxylamine washings. All the electron transport assays were found to be highly sensitive to diuron, indicating that diethylhydroxylamine donates electrons to the photosystem II before the herbicide binding site. The stimulation of the photochemical activity by diethylhydroxylamine is not solely due to its action as an uncoupler. It was also observed that the action of diethylhydroxylamine was not altered by preincubations of thylakoids in light in the presence of diethylhydroxylamine. Also, thylakoid membranes did not lose their benzoquinone Hill activity by the pre-incubations with diethylhydroxylamine either in light or in dark. Thus, unlike the photosystem II electron donor, hydroxylamine, diethylhydroxylamine was found to donate electrons without the inactivations of oxygen evolving complex. It is suggested that diethylhydroxylamine is a useful electron donor to the photosystem II.