Hydrogen ions directly regulating the oligomerization state of Photosystem I in intact Spirulina platensis cells

H+ concentration induced-monomerization or trimerization of photosystem I (PSI) in cyanobacteria has never been directly observed. In this work, taking characteristic spectra for the trimers and monomers as the indicators, it was experimentally demonstrated that H+ could induce the oligomeric changes of PSI reaction centers in the intact Spirulina platensis cells and also in the isolated thylakoid membrane complexes. Especially, the higher concentration of H+ would induce the monomerization while the lower the trimerization, suggesting the electrostatic interaction should be mainly responsible for changes in the oligomeric state of PSI in Spirulina platensis.