Carbonic anhydrase CAH3 supports the activity of photosystem II under increased pH

The lumenal carbonic anhydrase (CA) CAH3 from green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is the only one CA identified so far in close association with the photosystem II (PSII) multi-subunit protein complex. It was proposed earlier, that CAH3 could facilitate the H+ removal from the active center of the PSII water-oxidizing complex (WOC) under the light, thereby increasing its activity. In the present work, using PSII enriched membranes from the wild type of C. reinhardtii and from the CAH3-deficient mutant cia3, we demonstrate, that the suppression of the photosynthetic activity of PSII by increased pH is more pronounced in preparations from cia3 as compared to the wild type. Experiments with CA inhibitors show that the activity of CAH3 supports the function of PSII and prevents its irreversible inactivation under light upon increased pH. The photosynthetic activity of PSII from cia3 can be restored to the wild type level upon increased pH if an excess of HCO3- is added. These findings testify that the main role of CAH3 in the vicinity of PSII is the acceleration of the HCO3- dehydration reaction. Measurements of the photoinduced electron transfer rate in PSII from water or from an artificial electron donor indicate, that CAH3 has a direct influence on the WOC function. Based on the data obtained in this work we conclude, that in vivo CA-activity of CAH3 may support the photosynthetic activity of PSII at increased pH in the thylakoid lumen and can be observed under the dark to light transition.