Cooperativity among manganese-binding sites in the H+-ATPase of chloroplasts

Coupling factor, isolated from lettuce chloroplasts, contained several binding sites for Mn2+ ions. Three of these sites showed strong cooperative interactions having a Hill coefficient of 2.9 +/- 0.20 and a Kd of 14.7 +/- 0.44 microM. Three additional non-interacting Mn2+-binding sites were found with a Kd of 46.7 +/- 2.3 microM. Chemical modification with naphthylglyoxal of 1 arginyl residue/chloroplast coupling factor 1, which inhibited ATPase activity, inhibited the cooperativity among the sites but did not prevent Mn2+ binding to the enzyme. It is suggested that the cooperative interaction among the Mn2+-binding sites is an expression of the interaction among the active sites of the enzyme which is required for catalysis.