Effects of Manganese Deficiency on Spectral Characteristics and Oxygen Evolution in Maize Chloroplasts

The effects of Mn(2+) deficiency on light absorption, transmission, and oxygen evolution of maize chloroplasts were investigated by spectral methods. Several effects of Mn(2+) deficiency were observed: (1) the skeleton of pigment protein complexes and oxygen-evolving center and the combination between pigment and protein were damaged; (2) the light absorption of chloroplasts was obviously decreased; (3) the energy transfer among amino acids within PS II protein-pigment complex and decreased energy transport from tyrosine residue to chlorophyll a and from chlorophyll b and carotenoid to chlorophyll a were inhibited; (4) the oxygen-evolving of chloroplast was significantly inhibited. However, Mn(2+) addition decreased the damage of light absorption, transmission, and oxygen evolution of maize chloroplasts caused by Mn(2+) deficiency.