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Govindjee

Publications and source records attributed to Govindjee.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1973

Bicarbonate ion as a critical factor in photosynthetic oxygen evolution.

Bicarbonate ion, not dissolved CO(2) gas, is shown to increase 4- to 5-fold the rate of dichlorophenol indophenol reduction by isolated maize (Zea mays) chloroplasts. Glutaraldehyde fixed chloroplasts continue to exhibit bicarbonate-dependent 2,6-dichlorophenol indophenol reduction. Bicarbonate is shown to act close to the oxygen-evolving site, i.e. prior to the electron donation site of diphenyl carbazide to photosystem II. Dark incubation and light pretreatment of chloroplasts in various concentrations of bicarbonate, just prior to assay, indicate that bicarbonate binds to chloroplasts in the dark and is released again as the Hill reaction proceeds in the light. It is suggested that bicarbonate ions may play a critical role in the oxygen-evolving process in photosynthesis.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1973

Photochemical properties of mesophyll and bundle sheath chloroplasts of maize.

Several photochemical and spectral properties of maize (Zea mays) bundle sheath and mesophyll chloroplasts are reported that provide a better understanding of the photosynthetic apparatus of C(4) plants. The difference absorption spectrum at 298 K and the fluorescence excitation and emission spectra of chlorophyll at 298 K and 77 K provide new information on the different forms of chlorophyll a in bundle sheath and mesophyll chloroplasts: the former contain, relative to short wavelength chlorophyll a forms, more long wavelength chlorophyll a form (e.g. chlorophyll a 693 and chlorophyll a 705) and less chlorophyll b than the latter. The degree of polarization of chlorophyll a fluorescence is 6% in bundle sheath and 4% in mesophyll chloroplasts. This result is consistent with the presence of relatively high amounts of oriented long wavelength forms of chlorophyll a in bundle sheath compared to mesophyll chloroplasts. The relative yield of variable, with respect to constant, chorophyll a fluorescence in mesophyll chloroplasts is more than twice that in bundle sheath chloroplast. Furthermore, the relative yield of total chlorophyll a fluorescence is 40% lower in bundle sheath compared to that in mesophyll chloroplasts. This is in agreement with the presence of the higher ratio of the weakly fluorescent pigment system I to pigment system II in bundle sheath than in mesophyll chloroplast. The efficiency of energy transfer from chlorophyll b and carotenoids to chlorophyll a are calculated to be 100 and 50%, respectively, in both types of chloroplasts. Fluorescence quenching of atebrin, reflecting high energy state of chloroplasts, is 10 times higher in mesophyll chloroplasts than in bundle sheath chloroplasts during noncyclic electron flow but is equal during cyclic flow. The entire electron transport chain is shown to be present in both types of chloroplasts, as inferred from the antagonistic effect of red (650 nm) and far red (710 nm) lights on the absorbance changes at 559 nm and 553 nm, and the photoreduction of methyl viologen from H(2)O. (The rate of methyl viologen photoreduction in bundle sheath chloroplasts was 40% of that of mesophyll chloroplasts.).

Journal Article↗
PubMed1972

Lifetime of the excited state in vivo. I. Chlorophyll a in algae, at room and at liquid nitrogen temperatures; rate constants of radiationless deactivation and trapping.

Using a mode-locked laser (lambda, 632.8 nm), fluorescence decay of chlorophyll (Chl) a in the green alga Chlorella pyrenoidosa, the red alga Porphyridium cruentum, and the blue-green alga Anacystis nidulans was measured by the phase-shift method under conditions when photosynthesis was not operative (3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea [DCMU] poisoning, or cooling to 77 degrees K). In the presence of 10(-5) M DCMU, the lifetime of Chl a fluorescence (tau) at room temperature is about 1.7 nsec in Chlorella, 1.0 nsec in Porphyridium, and 0.7 nsec in Anacystis. At 77 degrees K, tau is 1.4 nsec (for fluorescence at about 685 nm, F-685) and 2.3 nsec (for F-730) in Chlorella, 0.9 nsec (F-685) and 1.2 nsec (F-730) in Porphyridium, and 0.8 nsec (F-685 and F-730) in Anacystis. From the above measurement, and the assumption that tau(0) (the intrinsic fluorescence lifetime) for Chl a in all three algae is 15.2 nsec, we have calculated the rate constants of radiationless transition (that includes energy transfer to weakly fluorescent system I) processes competing with fluorescence at room temperature to be about 5 x 10(8) sec(-1) in Chlorella, 9 x 10(8) sec(-1) in Porphyridium, and 13 x 10(8) sec(-1) in Anacystis. At 77 degrees K, this rate constant for Chl a that fluoresces at 685 nm remains, in the first approximation, the same as at room temperature. From the tau data, the rate constant for the trapping of excitation energy is calculated to be about 1.2 x 10(9) sec(-1) for Chlorella, 2 x 10(9) sec(-1) for Porphyridium, and 2 x 10(9) sec(-1) for Anacystis. The efficiency of trapping is calculated to be about 66% (Chlorella), 68% (Porphyridium), and 60% (Anacystis). (It is recognized that variations in the above values are to be expected if algae grown under different conditions are used for experimentation.) The maximum quantum yield of Chl a fluorescence for system II (lambda, 632.8 nm), calculated from tau measurements, is about 10% in Chlorella, 6-7% in Porhyridium, and 5% in Anacystis under conditions when photosynthesis is not operative; the values at 77 degrees K appear to be very close to those with DCMU added at room temperature. ø for F-730 at 77 degrees K, however, is somewhat higher than for F-685. The predicted quantum yields of fluorescence for Chl a in intact cells (both systems I and II) at low intensities of 632.8 nm light are about 2-3, 1-2, and 1% for Chlorella, Porphyridium, and Anacystis, respectively.

Chlorella↗
PubMed1972

Lifetime of the excited state in vivo. II. Bacteriochlorophyll in photosynthetic bacteria at room temperature.

Lifetime of the excited state (tau) of bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) in photosynthetic bacteria, measured with a mode-locked argon laser (oscillating at 488 nm; mode locked at 56 MHz) as light source, ranged from 0.3 to 2.5 nsec. These tau values are reported with a precision of +/-0.1 nsec. The value of tau at high exciting light intensity (I) was two to three times that at low intensity. For young cultures of green bacterium Chloropseudomonas ethylicum, tau ranged from 0.5 (low I) to 1.0 nsec (high I); for those of the purple bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum, from 0.4 (low I) to 1.0 nsec (high I); and for those of the BChl b-containing Rhodopseudomonas viridis, from 1.0 (low I) to 2.5 nsec (high I). These data provide information regarding the efficiencies of the photochemical process in these bacteria. Quantum yield (ø) of BChl fluorescence, calculated from ø = tau/tau(0) (where tau(0) is the intrinsic lifetime of fluorescence), ranges from 2-6% at low intensities to 6-14% at high intensities.

Chlorophyll↗