Correlation of inhibitions to structural aspects of chloroplast proteins: A murburn perspective

Abstract

In this manuscript, we we first present a brief review of the structural awareness on chloroplasts, the two photosystems (PS I & PS II, along with the respective light harvesting complexes and chlorophyll binding proteins). Thereafter, with an in silico approach, we attempt to correlate the photoactive proteins’ inhibition by various class of molecules, particularly weedicides. The prevailing understanding relies on topographical-affinity driven binding based explanations for electron transfers and inhibitions. The murburn model of photosynthesis deems DROS (diffusible reactive oxygen species) mediated constructive outcomes as the physiological mechanism for overall outcomes. We unravel key anomalous observations on the inhibitory aspects of the photosynthetic machinery, which were also noted in DROS involving systems like microsomal xenobiotic metabolism and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. Via a comparative logic and applying Ockham’s razor, we infer that inhibitory outcomes in several photolysis-photophosphorylation processes are better explained by the murburn model.