Trinitrophenylation of Spinach Ferredoxin and Its Effect on the Functions

Spinach ferredoxin was trinitrophenylated by reaction with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene-sulfonate. Four amino groups in the ferredoxin could be modified of the total of five amino groups. The trinitrophenylated ferredoxin formed a complex with ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase just as native ferredoxin did. The modified ferredoxin also retained the activity of electron transport in the cytochrome c photoreduction system of chloroplasts, but could neither donate electrons to ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase in the NADP+ photoreduction system, nor accept electrons from the reductase in the NADPH-cytochrome c reduction system in vitro. Furthermore, it lost the inhibitory effect against the NADPH-diaphorase activity of the reductase. These results suggest that the complex formation of ferredoxin with ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase is a phenomenon essentially independent of the function of electron transport between the two proteins.