Structure of intermediates of the water oxidation reaction in photosystem II

• Photosystem II (PSII) catalyzes the light driven oxidation of water into dioxygen, protons and electrons. This reaction takes place at the oxygen evolving complex (OEC) a Mn4CaO5 cluster, through five intermediate S-states (S0 to S4), S1 being the dark-stable state and S3 the highest oxidized semi-stable state before O-O bond formation and O2 evolution. We have been using fs X-ray pulses from an X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) to study the geometric and electronic structure of the OEC over the reaction cycle and recently reported high-resolution (around 2 Å) structures of PSII at room temperature for the four stable states in the S-state cycle as well as for two time points in the S2-S3 transition. Our results reveal important structural changes including the binding of one additional ‘water’, Ox, during the S2→S3 state transition. The binding of the additional oxygen Ox in the S3 state between Ca and Mn1 suggests O-O bond formation mechanisms involving O5 as one substrate, where Ox is either the other substrate oxygen or is perfectly positioned to refill the O5 position during O2 release. We also explored the extended network of H-bonds between amino acid residues and waters connecting the OEC to the bulk solvent. We observed several significant changes in this network during the S-state cycle. Based on these data we will discuss the dynamics of the catalytic site and its environment over the reaction cycle.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Fysikalisk kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Physical Chemistry (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Biokemi och molekylärbiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (hsv//eng)

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