Photoelectron transport ability of chloroplast thylakoid membranes treated with NO donor SNP: Changes in flash oxygen evolution and chlorophyll fluorescence

The nitric oxide (NO) donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) is frequently used in plant science in vivo. The present in vitro study reveals its effects on the photosynthetic oxygen evolution and the chlorophyll fluorescence directly on isolated pea thylakoid membranes. It was found that even at very low amounts of SNP (chlorophyll/SNP molar ratio ∼ 67:1), the SNP-donated NO stimulates with more than 50% the overall photosystem II electron transport rate and diminishes the evolution of molecular oxygen. It was also found that the target site for SNP-donated NO is the donor side of photosystem II. Compared with other NO-donors used in plant science, SNP seems to be the only one exhibiting stimulation of electron transport through photosystem II.