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Abstract: Plastocyanin and cytochrome c 6 are two small soluble electron carriers located in the intrathylacoidal space of cyanobacteria. Although their role as electron shuttle between the cytochrome b 6 f and photosystem I complexes in the photosynthetic pathway is well established, their participation in the respiratory electron transport chain as donors to the terminal oxidase is still under debate. Here, we present the first time-resolved analysis showing that both cytochrome c 6 and plastocyanin can be efficiently oxidized by the aa 3 type cytochrome c oxidase in Nostoc sp. PCC 7119. The apparent electron transfer rate constants are ca. 250 and 300s−1 for cytochrome c 6 and plastocyanin, respectively. These constants are 10 times higher than those obtained for the oxidation of horse cytochrome c by the oxidase, in spite of being a reaction thermodynamically more favourable. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]