Oxidative stress inhibits the repair of photodamage to the photosynthetic machinery

Absorption of excess light energy by the photosynthetic machinery results in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as H₂O₂. We investigated the effects in vivo of ROS to clarify the nature of the damage caused by such excess light energy to the photosynthetic machinery in the cyanobacterium Synechacystis sp. PCC 6803. Treatments of cyanobacterial cells that supposedly increased intracellular concentrations of Res apparently stimulated the photodamage to photosystem II by inhibiting the repair of the damage to photosystem II and not by accelerating the photodamage directly. This conclusion was confirmed by the effects of the mutation of genes for H₂O₂-scavenging enzymes on the recovery of photosystem II. Pulse labeling experiments revealed that ROS inhibited the synthesis of proteins de novo. In particular, ROS inhibited synthesis of the D1 protein, a component of the reaction center of photosystem II. Northern and western blot analyses suggested that ROS might influence the outcome of photodamage primarily via inhibition of translation of the psbA gene, which encodes the precursor to D1 protein.