oxidoreduction

It catalyses the oxidoreduction of the mobile redox components ubiquinol and cytochrome c, generating an electrochemical potential, which is linked to ATP synthesis.

The demonstrated or hypothesised mechanisms used by bacteria to weather minerals include several oxidoreduction and dissolution reactions as well as the production of weathering agents, such as protons, organic acids and chelating molecules.

Some of the less reactive of these species (such as superoxide) can be converted by oxidoreduction reactions with transition metals or other redox cycling compounds (including quinones) into more aggressive radical species that can cause extensive cellular damage.

Plastoquinone-plastocyanin reductase (b6f complex), present in cyanobacteria and the chloroplasts of plants, catalyses the oxidoreduction of plastoquinol and cytochrome f. This complex, which is functionally similar to ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase, comprises cytochrome b6, cytochrome f and Rieske subunits.