Isolation, Size Estimates, and Spectral Heterogeneity of an Oligomeric Series of Light-Harvesting 1 Complexes fromRhodobacter sphaeroides†

Biochemistry ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 41 (27) ◽  
pp. 8698-8707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willem H. J. Westerhuis ◽  
James N. Sturgis ◽  
Emma C. Ratcliffe ◽  
C. Neil Hunter ◽  
Robert A. Niederman
Keyword(s):  
Light Harvesting ◽  
Oligomeric Series ◽  
Size Estimates

High-Resolution electron crystallography of the light-harvesting chlorophyll-a/b protein complex from chloroplast membranes

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 610-610
Author(s):  
Werner Kühlbrandt ◽  
Da Neng Wang ◽  
K.H. Downing
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Electron Diffraction ◽  
Chlorophyll A ◽  
Protein Complex ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Light Harvesting ◽  
Lhc Ii ◽  
Diffraction Patterns ◽  
Difference Fourier ◽  
2D Crystals

The light-harvesting chlorophyll-a/b protein complex (LHC-II) is the most abundant membrane protein in the chloroplasts of green plants where it functions as a molecular antenna of solar energy for photosynthesis. We have grown two-dimensional (2d) crystals of the purified, detergent-solubilized LHC-II . The crystals which measured 5 to 10 μm in diameter were stabilized for electron microscopy by washing with a 0.5% solution of tannin. Electron diffraction patterns of untilted 2d crystals cooled to 130 K showed sharp spots to 3.1 Å resolution. Spot-scan images of 2d crystals were recorded at 160 K with the Berkeley microscope . Images of untilted crystals were processed, using the unbending procedure by Henderson et al . A projection map of the complex at 3.7Å resolution was generated from electron diffraction amplitudes and high-resolution phases obtained by image processing .A difference Fourier analysis with the same image phases and electron diffraction amplitudes recorded of frozen, hydrated specimens showed no significant differences in the 3.7Å projection map. Our tannin treatment therefore does not affect the structural integrity of the complex.

Macroorganisation and flexibility of thylakoid membranes

2019 ◽  
Vol 476 (20) ◽  
pp. 2981-3018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petar H. Lambrev ◽  
Parveen Akhtar
Keyword(s):  
Light Harvesting ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Photosynthetic Apparatus ◽  
Dynamic Responses ◽  
State Transitions ◽  
Photochemical Quenching ◽  
Light Harvesting Complex ◽  
Complex Ii ◽  
Light Harvesting Complex Ii

Abstract The light reactions of photosynthesis are hosted and regulated by the chloroplast thylakoid membrane (TM) — the central structural component of the photosynthetic apparatus of plants and algae. The two-dimensional and three-dimensional arrangement of the lipid–protein assemblies, aka macroorganisation, and its dynamic responses to the fluctuating physiological environment, aka flexibility, are the subject of this review. An emphasis is given on the information obtainable by spectroscopic approaches, especially circular dichroism (CD). We briefly summarise the current knowledge of the composition and three-dimensional architecture of the granal TMs in plants and the supramolecular organisation of Photosystem II and light-harvesting complex II therein. We next acquaint the non-specialist reader with the fundamentals of CD spectroscopy, recent advances such as anisotropic CD, and applications for studying the structure and macroorganisation of photosynthetic complexes and membranes. Special attention is given to the structural and functional flexibility of light-harvesting complex II in vitro as revealed by CD and fluorescence spectroscopy. We give an account of the dynamic changes in membrane macroorganisation associated with the light-adaptation of the photosynthetic apparatus and the regulation of the excitation energy flow by state transitions and non-photochemical quenching.

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