Light-Induced Biogenesis of Chlorophyll-Protein Complexes in Developing Wheat Thylakoids

J. A. Aliev, I. M. Guseinova^*, S. Yu. Suleimanov, and I. S. Zulfugarov

Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences, Patamdar Shosse 40, Baku, 370073 Azerbaijan; fax: (994-12) 97-5045; (994-12) 39-3380; E-mail: dj_aliev@baku.ab.az or zulfugarov@azeronline.com

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received December 16, 1999; Revision received July 12, 2000

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It is shown that the apoproteins of core complexes (CC) I and II, the alpha- and beta-subunits of CF₁ ATP-synthase complexes, are present in seedlings grown under intermittent light (IML). The levels of light-harvesting complex (LHC) apoproteins in the 30- to 18-kD region increase rapidly upon exposure to continuous light (CL). The newly synthesized LHC apoproteins appear to be present predominantly in monomeric forms that later assemble into higher-order oligomeric forms. During the early stages of greening of wheat seedlings, polypeptides in the 20.5-19 and 17.5-15.5 kD regions (so-called “early light-induced proteins” (ELIP)) are observed, but they disappear fully after 6 h. As greening proceeds, the 727-nm band in low-temperature fluorescence spectra (77 K) gradually shifts to longer wavelength (740-742 nm), which clearly demonstrates the light-driven biogenesis of LHC I and its assembly with CC I.

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KEY WORDS: greening, fluorescence, early light-induced proteins, plastids, light-harvesting complex, wheat

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