Acclimation to the Growth Temperature and the High-Temperature Effects on Photosystem II and Plasma Membranes in a Mesophilic Cyanobacterium, Synechocystis sp. PCC6803

High-temperature effects on Photosystem II and plasma membranes, temperature dependence of growth, and acclimation to the growth temperature were studied in a mesophilic cyanobacterium, Synechocystis sp. PCC6803. The following results were obtained. (1) Small but distinct temperature acclimation of the PSII reaction center activity was shown for the first time when the activity was measured at inhibitory high temperatures. However, the reaction center activity showed no apparent acclimation when it was measured at growth temperatures after heat stress. (2) Oxygen-evolving activity and the permeability of plasma membranes showed higher resistance to heat when PCC6803 cells were grown at higher temperatures. (3) Acclimation of photosynthesis to the growth temperature seemed to occur so as to maintain photosynthesis activity not at a maximum level but in a certain range at the growth temperatures. (4) Neither sensitivity to high-temperature-induced dissociation of phycobilisomes from the PSII reaction center complexes nor degradation of phycocyanin were altered by changes in the environmental temperature. (5) A close relationship between the viability of cells and the structural changes of plasma membranes (but not the inactivation of photosynthesis) was observed. The denaturation process of PSII complexes and the relationship between the temperature dependence of the growth of Synechocystis PCC6803 cells and that of the photosynthetic activity are also discussed.