EVIDENCE FOR A HETEROGENOUS ORGANIZATION OF VIOLAXANTHIN IN THYLAKOID MEMBRANES

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Abstract
Two functionally different species of violaxanthin have been observed in thylakoid membranes, one that can be de‐epoxidised to zeaxanthin under light and one not available for light‐induced zeaxanthin formation (Siefermann, D. and H. Y. Yamamoto, 1974,Biochim. Biophys. Acta357, 144–150). Here the distribution of available and unavailable violaxanthin is examined between membrane subfractions obtained from Triton X‐100 solubilized spinach thylakoids by isoelectric focusing: (1) Only 40% of the available violaxanthin is detected in isolated Chl‐proteins, while the residual 60% occur in a fraction of‘free’pigments; (2) Almost 80% of the unavailable violaxanthin is recovered from the light‐harvesting Chla/b‐protein complex (36%) and from photochemically active complexes containing photosystem I (20%) or photosystem II (20%). The results suggest a heterogenous organization of available and unavailable violaxanthin in thylakoid membranes.

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