In angiosperms, singlet oxygen is a prominent form of reactive oxygen species that is produced during photosynthesis. Its excess causes photooxidative damage leading to cell death, demonstrated in mutants impaired in the chlorophyll biosynthetic pathway. In the present work, we used mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana that exhibit a conditional seedling lethal phenotype caused by the absence of the outer plastid envelope protein, OEP16-1. This protein is involved in the transport of amines, amino acids and is also implicated in the import of the key enzyme of chlorophyll synthesis, NADPH: Protochlorophyllide oxydoreductase A (PORA), into the plastids. Using a reverse genetic approach, four independent Atoep16-1 mutants were isolated and characterized, with different combinations of cell death properties and presence/absence of PORA. Two of the mutants overproduced free protochlorophyllide (Pchlide) in the dark and died after illumination. Pchlide operated here as a photosensitizer triggering singlet oxygen formation. The other two mutants avoided excess Pchlide accumulation and greened normally. Using the mutant of barley, tigrina d12 as reference, we show that cell death induced in the photobleaching Atoep16-1 mutants occurs in a flu-independent pathway. Translation initiation at 80S ribosomes was identified to be a major target of singlet oxygen in the early hours of greening. At a delayed stage, singlet oxygen caused ribosome dissociation. We provided evidence that both effects on translation are genetically linked and they can be further studied using the Atoep16-1 mutant that we isolated and the previously described flu mutant.
