The functional and thermodynamic characteristics of the ubiquinolcytochrome (Cyt) c oxidoreductase in a Cyt b/c,-enriched fraction (defined S-1) isolated from Jerusalem artichoke mitochondria (JAM) (Helianthus tuberosus), have been analyzed. Fraction S-1, obtained through deoxycholate-KCI fractionation procedure, contained one Cyt ofc type (formally cl with Em7.0 of +240 millivolts), two b type Cyt with Em7.. values of +100 and -25 millivolts, ferredoxin-like centers presumably linked to succinic-and NADH-dehydrogenases, and a Rieske-type iron sulfur center (gy = 1.89). The ubiquinol-dependent Cyt c reduction by fraction S-I showed sensitivity to antimycin A, myxothiazol, and n-2-hepthyl-1-hydroxyquinoline N-oxide with I50 of 12 nanomolar, 30 nanomolar, and 0.1 micromblar, respectively. Oxidation-induced extra b type reduction, a widespread phenomenon of bacterial and mitochondrial respiratory systems, has also been observed in both intact mitochondria and S-1 fraction. The data seem to blur previous experiments in which both spectral and functional differences between higher plant and mammalian mitochondria have been underlined.The respiratory chains of eukaryotic and prokaryotic systems are an assembly of more than twenty discrete carriers ofelectrons together with an unspecific number of structural peptides (30). While the function of the respiratory chain as an oxidationreduction driven proton-pump is now accepted (30), the structural basis underlying this function is only partially understood (30). Owing to this, respiratory and photosynthetic electron transport in mammalian mitochondria, photosynthetic bacteria, blue-green algae, and chloroplasts have been analyzed throtgh isolation and characterization of multiple redox complexes (12). However, little effort has been made to try to understand both structural and redox properties of respiratory complexes from plant mitochondria. Published experimentation dealt with partial purification of either the b type Cyt from mung bean (Phaseolus aureus) and potato tuber mitochondria (8,13) (14). Evidence for the presence of a Rieske-type iron-sulfur center (gy = 1.89) is also presented.