Biomedical subjects

Laurent Cournac

Publications and source records attributed to Laurent Cournac.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Involvement of a plastid terminal oxidase in plastoquinone oxidation as evidenced by expression of the Arabidopsis thaliana enzyme in tobacco.

Chlororespiration has been defined as a respiratory electron transport chain in interaction with photosynthetic electron transport involving both non-photochemical reduction and oxidation of plastoquinones. Different enzymatic activities, including a plastid-encoded NADH dehydrogenase complex, have been reported to be involved in the non-photochemical reduction of plastoquinones. However, the enzyme responsible for plasquinol oxidation has not yet been clearly identified. In order to determine whether the newly discovered plastid oxidase (PTOX) involved in carotenoid biosynthesis acts as a plastoquinol oxidase in higher plant chloroplasts, the Arabidopsis thaliana PTOX gene (At-PTOX) was expressed in tobacco under the control of a strong constitutive promoter. We showed that At-PTOX is functional in tobacco chloroplasts and strongly accelerates the non-photochemical reoxidation of plastoquinols; this effect was inhibited by propyl gallate, a known inhibitor of PTOX. During the dark to light induction phase of photosynthesis at low irradiances, At-PTOX drives significant electron flow to O(2), thus avoiding over-reduction of plastoquinones, when photo- synthetic CO(2) assimilation was not fully induced. We proposed that PTOX, by modulating the redox state of intersystem electron carriers, may participate in the regulation of cyclic electron flow around photosystem I.

Arabidopsis↗

PubMed2002

In vivo interactions between photosynthesis, mitorespiration, and chlororespiration in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Interactions between photosynthesis, mitochondrial respiration (mitorespiration), and chlororespiration have been investigated in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii using flash illumination and a bare platinum electrode. Depending on the physiological status of algae, flash illumination was found to induce either a fast (t(1/2) approximately 300 ms) or slow (t(1/2) approximately 3 s) transient inhibition of oxygen uptake. Based on the effects of the mitorespiratory inhibitors myxothiazol and salicyl hydroxamic acid (SHAM), and of propyl gallate, an inhibitor of the chlororespiratory oxidase, we conclude that the fast transient is due to the flash-induced inhibition of chlororespiration and that the slow transient is due to the flash-induced inhibition of mitorespiration. By measuring blue-green fluorescence changes, related to the redox status of the pyridine nucleotide pool, and chlorophyll fluorescence, related to the redox status of plastoquinones (PQs) in C. reinhardtii wild type and in a photosystem I-deficient mutant, we show that interactions between photosynthesis and chlororespiration are favored when PQ and pyridine nucleotide pools are reduced, whereas interactions between photosynthesis and mitorespiration are favored at more oxidized states. We conclude that the plastid oxidase, similar to the mitochondrial alternative oxidase, becomes significantly engaged when the PQ pool becomes highly reduced, and thereby prevents its over-reduction.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Cyclic electron flow around photosystem I in C(3) plants. In vivo control by the redox state of chloroplasts and involvement of the NADH-dehydrogenase complex.

Cyclic electron flow around photosystem (PS) I has been widely described in vitro in chloroplasts or thylakoids isolated from C(3) plant leaves, but its occurrence in vivo is still a matter of debate. Photoacoustic spectroscopy and kinetic spectrophotometry were used to analyze cyclic PS I activity in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv Petit Havana) leaf discs illuminated with far-red light. Only a very weak activity was measured in air with both techniques. When leaf discs were placed in anaerobiosis, a high and rapid cyclic PS I activity was measured. The maximal energy storage in far-red light increased to 30% to 50%, and the half-time of the P(700) re-reduction in the dark decreased to around 400 ms; these values are comparable with those measured in cyanobacteria and C(4) plant leaves in aerobiosis. The stimulatory effect of anaerobiosis was mimicked by infiltrating leaves with inhibitors of mitochondrial respiration or of the chlororespiratory oxidase, therefore, showing that changes in the redox state of intersystem electron carriers tightly control the rate of PS I-driven cyclic electron flow in vivo. Measurements of energy storage at different modulation frequencies of far-red light showed that anaerobiosis-induced cyclic PS I activity in leaves of a tobacco mutant deficient in the plastid Ndh complex was kinetically different from that of the wild type, the cycle being slower in the former leaves. We conclude that the Ndh complex is required for rapid electron cycling around PS I.

Acoustics↗

PubMed2002

Chlororespiration.

Chlororespiration has been defined as a respiratory electron transport chain (ETC) in interaction with the photosynthetic ETC in thylakoid membranes of chloroplasts. The existence of chlororespiration has been disputed during the last decade, with the initial evidence mainly obtained with intact algal cells being possibly explained by redox interactions between chloroplasts and mitochondria. The discovery in higher-plant chloroplasts of a plastid-encoded NAD(P)H-dehydrogenase (Ndh) complex, homologous to the bacterial complex I, and of a nuclear-encoded plastid terminal oxidase (PTOX), homologous to the plant mitochondrial alternative oxidase, brought molecular support to the concept of chlororespiration. The functionality of these proteins in non-photochemical reduction and oxidation of plastoquinones (PQs), respectively, has recently been demonstrated. In thylakoids of mature chloroplasts, chlororespiration appears to be a relatively minor pathway compared to linear photosynthetic electron flow from H2O to NADP+. However, chlororespiration might play a role in the regulation of photosynthesis by modulating the activity of cyclic electron flow around photosystem I (PS I). In non-photosynthetic plastids, chlororespiratory electron carriers are more abundant and may play a significant bioenergetic role.

Chloroplasts↗