Photosynthetic Mutant of Lemna

The biosynthesis of the cytochrome b6f complex has been studied in a mutant, no. 1073, of Lemna perpusilla that contained less than 1% of the four protein subunits when compared with a wild-type strain. RNA gel blot analyses of the mutant indicated that the chloroplast genes for cytochrome f , cytochrome b6, and subunit IV (petA, petB, and petD, respectively) are transcribed and that the petB and petD transcripts undergo their normal processing. Analysis of polysomal polyA+ RNA indicated that the leve1 of translationally active mRNA for the nuclear-encoded Rieske Fe-S protein (petC) was reduced by >lOO-fold in the mutant. lmmunoprecipitation of in vivo labeled proteins indicated that both cytochrome f and subunit IV are synthesized and that subunit IV has a 10-fold higher rate of protein turnover in the mutant. These results are discussed in terms of the assembly of the cytochrome complex and the key role of the Rieske Fe-S protein in this process.