The effects of Triton X-100 and n-octyl β-d-glucopyranoside on energy transfer in photosynthetic membranes

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Abstract
The effects of the non-ionic detergents Triton X-100 and n-octyl .beta.-D-glucopyranoside on energy transfer between pigment-protein complexes of Pisum sativum thylakoids were investigated. This was done by monitoring the 77 K fluorescence-emission characteristics of stacked and unstacked thylakoids exposed to a range of detergent concentrations. At subcritical micellar concentrations, the detergents had little effect; above these concentrations they caused increases of up to 20-fold in short wavelength fluorescence intensity and a shift in its maximum wavelength from 685 to 680 nm. Fluorescence-emission intensities at 695 and 735 nm were relatively unaffected by detergent treatments, although Triton X-100 caused a wavelength shift in the emission peak from 735 to 728 nm. The results are discussed in terms of reversible dissociation of pigment-protein complexes induced by mild detergent solubilization and the consequent cessation of inter-complex energy transfer.