An amino residue that guides the correct photoassembly of the water-oxidation complex but is not required for high affinity Mn2+ binding

The assembly of the Mn 4 O 5 Ca cluster of the photosystem II (PSII) starts from the initial binding and photooxidation of the first Mn 2+ at a high affinity site (HAS). Recent cryo-EM apo-PSII structures reveal an altered geometry of amino ligands in this region and suggest the involvement of D1-Glu189 ligand in the formation of the HAS. We now find that Gln and Lys substitution mutants photoactivate with reduced quantum efficiency compared to the wild-type. However, the affinity of Mn 2+ at the HAS in D1-E189K was very similar to the wild-type (~2.2 μM). Thus, we conclude that D1-E189 does not form the HAS (~2.9 μM) and that the reduced quantum efficiency of photoactivation in D1-E189K cannot be ascribed to the initial photooxidation of Mn 2+ at the HAS. Besides reduced quantum efficiency, the D1-E189K mutant exhibits a large fraction of centers that fail to recover activity during photoactivation starting early in the assembly phase, becoming recalcitrant to further assembly. Fluorescence relaxation kinetics indicate on the presence of an alternative route for the charge recombination in Mn-depleted samples in all studied mutants and exclude damage to the photochemical reaction center as the cause for the recalcitrant centers failing to assemble and show that dark incubation of cells reverses some of the inactivation. This reversibility would explain the ability of these mutants to accumulate a significant fraction of active PSII during extended periods of cell growth. The failed recovery in the fraction of inactive centers appears to a reversible mis-assembly involving the accumulation of photooxidized, but non-catalytic high valence Mn at the donor side of photosystem II, and that a reductive mechanism exists for restoration of assembly capacity at sites incurring mis-assembly. Given the established role of Ca 2+ in preventing misassembled Mn, we conclude that D1-E189K mutant impairs the ligation of Ca 2+ at its effector site in all PSII centers that consequently leads to the mis-assembly resulting in accumulation of non-catalytic Mn at the donor side of PSII. Our data indicate that D1-E189 is not functionally involved in Mn 2+ oxidation\binding at the HAS but rather involved in Ca 2+ ligation and steps following the initial Mn 2+ photooxidation.