VEGETOS: Um Jornal Internacional de Pesquisa Vegetal

The Carbonic Anhydrases in Higher Plant Chloroplasts

Zhurikova E, Rudenko N, Ignatova L and Ivanov B

The aim of this review is to analyze the participation of carbonic anhydrases in the reactions proceeding in the higher plant chloroplasts. The short description of the catalytic mechanisms, inhibitors and activators of carbonic anhydrases belonging to α- and β- families, the representatives of which were found in chloroplasts is given. The current data about the proteins with carbonic anhydrase activity and about already identified enzymes in both chloroplast stroma and thylakoids are presented. The dependencies of carbonic anhydrase gene expression levels on the light intensity during growth are described for enzymes situated in these parts of the chloroplasts of Arabidopsis plants. We also present the results of our studies being conducted with mutants with knocked out genes encoding carbonic anhydrases. We hypothesize on the role of thylakoid carbonic anhydrases in the processes regulating the development of non-photochemical quenching of leaf chlorophyll fluorescence. The significance of the presence of the number of carbonic anhydrases in the chloroplast thylakoids is discussed.