Mass Spectrometric Analysis of N2-Formation Induced by the Oxidation of Hydrazine and Hydroxylamine in Flash Illuminated Thylakoid Preparations of the Filamentous Cyanobacterium Oscillatoria chalybea

Abstract

In tobacco chloroplasts hydrazine-dependent dinitrogen formation measured by mass spectrometry as the consequence of short saturating light flashes is always linked to a substantial oxygen uptake (G. Renger, K. P. Bader, and G. H. Schmid, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1015, 288, 1990). However, in thylakoids of the filamentous cyanobacterium Oscillatoria chalybea this dinitrogen formation is not linked to an apparent O2-uptake, even at the high concentration of 1 mм hydrazine. Whereas in tobacco chloroplasts Tris-treatment does not affect hydrazine dependent dinitrogen formation up to a concentration of 3 mм hydrazine, Tris-treatment of thylakoids of O. chalybea affects strongly both oxygen evolution and dinitrogen evolution under a single turnover flash as well as under ten flashes. In contrast to tobacco chloroplasts, the presence of hydrazine up to concentrations of 3 mм does not substantially affect photosynthetic O2-evolution. The observed dinitrogen evolution is affected by DCMU regardless whether induced by a single turnover flash or by ten flashes, whereas in tobacco dinitrogen evolution and the O2-uptake linked to it (which is not observed in the cyanobacterium) were clearly not affected by DCMU in the single turnover flash. In Oscillatoria the earlier described Photosystem II-mediated H2O2 formation and decomposition is influenced by hydrazine. In the presence of 300 μм hydrazine the usually present O2-uptake leading to H2O2 formation appears diminished.