Assembly of Photosystem I and II during the Early Phases of Light-Induced Development of Chloroplasts from Proplastids in Spirodela oligorrhiza

The aquatic higher plant Spirodela oligorrhiza , which contains proplastids when grown in the dark, was used to study light-dependent chloroplast development. Low-temperature (77 K) and room temperature fluorescence were utilized in situ on whole plants to examine plastid development. The dark-grown plants contain two 77 K fluorescence peaks, at 633 nm (F633) and at 657 nm (F657), with F633 dominating. The F657 species represents protochlorophyllide that is bound to protochloro-phyllide oxidoreductase. It was rapidly phototrans-formed to chlorophyllide (within 5 s) via a monomolec-ular reaction. Free protochlorophyllide (F633) was converted to chlorophyllide during a 3 h exposure to light. Photosystem (PS) assembly in Spirodela could be detected 2 h after the plants were first exposed to light, with the PSII reaction center (77 K fluorescence at 684 nm) appearing slightly before the PSI reaction center (77 K fluorescence at 725 nm). After the first reaction centers were formed the antenna complexes were added; the light-harvesting complex (LHC) I of PSI appeared after 8 h, and 47 kDa chlorophyll protein of PSII appeared between 12 h and 24 h. After 30 h of exposure to light, the plants acquired the ability to perform a light state transition, marking the appearance of functional LHCII complexes in the developing chloroplast. Finally, it was found that photosynthetic activity, as measured by room temperature chlorophyll fluorescence, accelerated con-comitantly with detection of the antenna complexes. Therefore, although reaction centers are detected very early during the proplastid to chloroplast conversion, they may have little activity or be unstable until the antennae are present.