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Light-Induced Increase in the Number and Activity of Ribosomes Bound to Pea Chloroplast Thylakoids in Vivo¹

Plant Biology Section, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853

Within 8 to 10 minutes of illumination, chloroplast thylakoids of pea (Pisum sativum) became enriched 30 to 100% in ribosomes bound by nascent chains. Following (or, in some experiments, coincident with) this apprarent redistribution was a 25 to 65% increase in the total bound ribosome population, which was then maintained at this higher level during the normal light period. On transfer of plants to darkness, the bound ribosome population decreased to the lower dark level. White, blue (400 to 520 nanometers), and orange (545 to 690 nanometers) light were all effective in producing an increase in the bound ribosome population. The level of bound ribosomes in the oldest leaves of 16-day-old plants was 15-fold less than in the still-maturing leaf but was still increased by illumination.

In vivo experiments with chloramphenicol and lincomycin indicated a requirement for protein synthesis by the 70S ribosomes both for the light-induced shift to the population bound by nascent chains and for the increase in the total thylakoid-bound population. When thylakoids from plants in darkness or exposed to light for increasing periods were incubated in an Eschericia coli cell-free protein synthesizing system, 15 minutes of prior illumination in vivo produced a 60% increase in [³H]leucine incorporation. This stimulation preceded the increase in total bound ribosomes but corresponded in time to observed increases in the ribosomes bound by nascent chains.

A light intensity of 100 micromoles per meter² per second, but not 25 micromoles per meter² per second, caused a significant increase in bound ribosomes over a 30-minute period. Strong inhibition in vivo by 3',4'-dichlorophenyl-1, 1-dimethylurea suggests that noncyclic electron flow is essential for light-induced ribosome redistribution.