QA binding in reaction centers of the photosynthetic purple bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides R26 investigated with electron spin polarization spectroscopy.

The relation between quinone (QA) binding and electron transport in reaction centers (RCs) of photosynthetic purple bacteria is investigated, using electron spin polarization (ESP) X-band (9 GHz) EPR as a tool to probe for structural changes resulting from charge separation and stabilization and from replacing the native QA molecule with other quinones. We present a study of possible changes in QA-binding that might be responsible for the remarkably prolonged lifetime of the charge-separated state at cryogenic temperatures for RCs of Rhodobacter sphaeroides R26 cooled under illumination [Kleinfeld, D., et al. (1984) Biochemistry 23, 5780-5786]. It is shown that this effect is not caused by a major reorientation of the chromophores. Furthermore, we studied the effects of structurally different quinones functioning as primary electron acceptor in different purple bacteria. With simulations of ESP X-band spectra of the spin-polarized secondary radical pair P.+QA.+- in menaquinone-reconstituted, Zn(2+)-substituted RCs of Rb. sphaeroides R26, we show that quinone reconstitution is highly selective for site and orientation. Furthermore, we find that a very small exchange interaction between P.+ and QA.+- (magnitude of JPQ approximately 1 microT) is needed to account accurately for the observed relative line intensities at X-band, without affecting the accuracy of the simulations of reported ESP K-band spectra [Füchsle, G., et al. (1993) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1142, 23-35; Van der Est, A., et al. (1993) Chem. Phys. Lett. 212, 561-568]. This pronounced influence of small values for JPQ on the X-band ESP line shape results from cancellation effects of absorptive and emissive contributions to the spectrum, such that small shifts can be observed. The exchange interaction has opposite sign for the native, ubiquinone-containing RC [viz. JP.UQ = (-0.8 +/- 0.2) microT] and the menaquinone-substituted RC [JP.MK = (+0.3 +/- 0.2) microT]. The implications of these observations for electron-transport theory are discussed