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Plant Physiology 68:447-452 (1981)
© 1981 American Society of Plant Biologists

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Articles

Noncovalent Intermolecular Forces in Phycobilisomes of Porphyridium cruentum1,2

Barbara A. Zilinskas and Richard E. Glick

Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Cook College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903

Using sensitized fluorescence as a measure of intactness of phycobilisomes isolated from Porphyridium cruentum, the effects of various environmental perturbations on phycobilisome integrity were investigated. The rate of phycobilisome dissociation in 0.75 ionic strength sodium salts proceeds in the order: SCN– > NO3– > Cl– > C6H5O73– > SO42– > PO43–, as predicted from the lyotropic series of anions and their effects on hydrophobic interactions in proteins. Similarly, increasing temperature (to 30 C) and pH values approaching the isoelectric points of the biliproteins stabilize phycobilisomes. Deuterium substitution at exchangeable sites on the phycobiliproteins decreases the rate of phycobilisome dissociation, while substitution at nonexchangeable sites increases rates of dissociation. It is concluded that hydrophobic intermolecular interactions are the most important forces in maintaining the phycobilisome structure. Dispersion forces also seem to contribute to phycobilisome stabilization. The adverse effects of electrostatic repulsion must not be ignored; however, it seems that the requirement of phycobilisomes of high salt concentrations is not simply countershielding of charges on the proteins.

1 This research was supported in part by the Science and Education Administration of the United States Department of Agriculture under Grant 5901-0410-8-0185-0 from the Competitive Research Grants Office, by the Petroleum Research Fund, administered by the American Chemical Society, Grant 10027-G4, by a Biomedical Research Support Grant, and a Rutgers University Research Council Grant.

2 This work was performed as part of New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Project 07104, supported by the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Cook College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.






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ASPB Publications PLANT PHYSIOLOGY THE PLANT CELL
Copyright © 1981 by the American Society of Plant Biologists