Photophosphorylation in bacterial chromatophores entrapped in alginate gel: Improvement of the physical and biochemical properties of gel beads with barium as gel-inducing agent

Abstract

The immobilization of Rhodopseudomonas capsulata chromatophores by entrapment in an alginate gel is described. Alginate beads were prepared with Ba 2+, Sr 2+ and Ca 2+ as gel-forming agents and compared for their mechanical strength, chemical resistance against disruption by phosphate-induced swelling, and yield of photophosphorylation activity. Barium alginate beads proved to have better physico-chemical properties than the more commonly used calcium alginate beads. After embedding in barium alginate gel, R. capsulata chromatophores retained a high yield (up to 70%) of their photophosphorylation capacity. Alginate entrapment did not cause a large increase in the Michaelis constant for ADP and phosphate, the substrates of adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase). These constants were K ADP m = 1.4 × 10 −5 m and K P i m = 2.2 × 10 −4 m for free chromatophores and K ADP m = 2.3 × 10 −4 m and K P i m = 5.6 × 10 −4 m for chromatophores entrapped in barium alginate gel. However, embedding gave no additional protection against rapid inactivation of chromatophores upon storage at 3°C. Preliminary results with a batch reactor for continuous ATP regeneration are presented. The barium alginate method has two features which are not generally encountered at the same time, extremely mild conditions for entrapment and excellent physical properties of the gels beads, which make this method a suitable tool for the construction of bioreactors with immobilized cells or organelles.