Abstract
The transformation of protochlorophyllide (PChle) into chlorophyllide (Chle) has been studied in isolated etioplasts from Zea mays. ATP (1.5mm) prevented the transformation of photoconvertible PChle 650 to PChle 630 in aged etioplasts. Curve analysis indicated that the ATP effect on photoconvertibility could be entirely accounted for by changes in the proportions of PChle 630 and PChle 650 and examination of the isolated pigments revealed that only unphytylated PChle could be activated for photoconversion by ATP. In etioplasts aged for 5 hours, ATP also stimulated photoconversion of PChle 630 into Chle 670. The process was temperature-sensitive and involved PChle 650 and Chle 680 as intermediates. AMP alone had no effect, but inhibited ATP retardation of PChle loss. ADP had a similar but lesser effect than ATP. The ADP response, but not the ATP response, was considerably enhanced in the presence of an ATP-generating system (phosphoenolpyruvate/pyruvate kinase). UTP, GTP, and CTP gave 40 to 50% of the ATP response with intact etioplasts. In envelope-free etioplasts, ATP gave the greatest response but the other nucleotides were now 80% as effective as ATP. After primary photoconversion, ATP stimulated resynthesis of PChle 650. It is proposed that ATP both gives the holochrome the ability to bind to the PChle molecule and enables additional association of the pigment-protein complex to form PChle 650.