Phéophytine

Pheophytin or phaeophytin is a chemical compound that serves as the first electron carrier intermediate in the electron transfer pathway of Photosystem II (PS II) in plants, and the type II photosynthetic reaction center (RC P870) found in purple bacteria. In both PS II and RC P870, light drives electrons from the reaction center through pheophytin, which then passes the electrons to a quinone (QA) in RC P870 and RC P680. The overall mechanisms, roles, and purposes of the pheophytin molecules in the two transport chains are analogous to each other. In biochemical terms, pheophytin is a chlorophyll molecule lacking a central Mg2+ ion. It can be produced from chlorophyll by treatment with a weak acid, producing a dark bluish waxy pigment. The probable etymology comes from this description, with pheo meaning dusky and phyt meaning vegetation. In 1977, scientists Klevanik, Klimov, Shuvalov performed a series of experiments to demonstrate that it is pheophytin and not plastoquinone that serves as the primary electron acceptor in photosystem II. Using several experiments, including electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), they were able to show that pheophytin was reducible and, therefore, the primary electron acceptor between P680 and plastoquinone (Klimov, Allakhverdiev, Klevanik, Shuvalov). This discovery was met with fierce opposition, since many believed pheophytin to only be a byproduct of chlorophyll degradation. Therefore, more experiments ensued to prove that pheophytin is indeed the primary electron acceptor of PSII, occurring between P680 and plastoquinone (Klimov, Allakhverdiev, Shuvalov). The data that was obtained is as follows: Photo-reduction of pheophytin has been observed in various mixtures containing PSII reaction centers. The quantity of pheophytin is in direct proportion to the number of PSII reaction centers. Photo-reduction of pheophytin occurs at temperatures as low as 100K, and is observed after the reduction of plastoquinone. These observations are all characteristic of photo-conversions of reaction center components.