The role of the slr2034 (ycf48) gene product in the assembly and repair of photosystem II (PSII) has been studied in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803. YCF48 (HCF136) is involved in the assembly of Arabidopsis thaliana PSII reaction center (RC) complexes but its mode of action is unclear. We show here that YCF48 is a component of two cyanobacterial PSII RC-like complexes in vivo and is absent in larger PSII core complexes. Interruption of ycf48 slowed the formation of PSII complexes in wild type, as judged from pulse-labeling experiments, and caused a decrease in the final level of PSII core complexes in wild type and a marked reduction in the levels of PSII assembly complexes in strains lacking either CP43 or CP47. Absence of YCF48 also led to a dramatic decrease in the levels of the COOH-terminal precursor (pD1) and the partially processed form, iD1, in a variety of PSII mutants and only low levels of unassembled mature D1 were observed. Yeast two-hybrid analyses using the split ubiquitin system showed an interaction of YCF48 with unassembled pD1 and, to a lesser extent, unassembled iD1, but not with unassembled mature D1 or D2. Overall our results indicate a role for YCF48 in the stabilization of newly synthesized pD1 and in its subsequent binding to a D2-cytochrome b559 pre-complex, also identified in this study. Besides a role in assembly, we show for the first time that YCF48 also functions in the selective replacement of photodamaged D1 during PSII repair.

Institute of Microbiology Academy of Sciences Opatovický mlýn 37981 Trebon Czech Republic

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The biogenesis and maintenance of PSII: Recent advances and current challenges

The Ycf48 accessory factor occupies the site of the oxygen-evolving manganese cluster during photosystem II biogenesis

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Psb34 protein modulates binding of high-light-inducible proteins to CP47-containing photosystem II assembly intermediates in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

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Ycf48 involved in the biogenesis of the oxygen-evolving photosystem II complex is a seven-bladed beta-propeller protein

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The Psb27 assembly factor binds to the CP43 complex of photosystem II in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803