Antibodies to chlorophyll and their reactions with chloroplast preparations.

Antibodies to chlorophyll are specifically adsorbed onto the membrane surface of thylakoids. The antibodies inhibit photosynthetic electron flow from water to NADP®. This inhibition is presumably caused by adsorption of the antibodies onto the centre chlorophyll of light reaction II. Fragments of the thylakoid membrane, obtained by ultrasonication and subsequent fractioning centrifugation, exhibit only photosystem-I activity. Conversely, the specific adsorption of antibodies to sensitizer chlorophyll has no inhibitory effect on electron transport. The ferricyanide H i l l reaction of chloroplast preparations is inhibited by chlorophyll antibodies. From these observations it is concluded that the centre chlorophyll of light reaction II and at least part of the sensitizer chlorophyll is located on the surface of the thylakoids. As agglutination is sterically inhibited by the membrane protein, it is assumed that the chlorophyll is located in gaps or pores of the protein layer. Two fractions of the lamellar system exhibit photosystem I activity of different characteristic electron donor specificity. These fractions can be further distinguished in terms of their circular dichroism and protein composition.