Structure and Function of the Antenna System in Photosystem I. In: Green BR, Parson WW, editors. Light-Harvesting Antennas in Photosynthesis. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands; 2003. pp. 253-79. [DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-2087-8_8]

Different strategies for photoprotection during autumn senescence in maple and oak

During autumn senescence, plants must disassemble the photosynthetic apparatus as nutrients are remobilized from the leaves. The goal of this study was to examine changes in relative abundance of photosynthetic proteins and pigments throughout autumn senescence in order to understand the mechanisms of photoprotection used during this process. We sampled leaves from two deciduous tree species [sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) and swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor Willd.)] throughout autumn during 2010 and 2013. Chlorophyll fluorescence was measured, thylakoids were isolated for western blotting with antibodies to individual proteins and pigment content was assessed. Both species retained high photochemical efficiency until late autumn and showed earlier onset of degradation of photosystem I relative to photosystem II. The species differed in the timing and pattern of degradation of individual photosynthetic proteins and pigments. In maple, there were increases in anthocyanins, more rapid degradation of light-harvesting proteins and enrichment of xanthophyll cycle pigments in late autumn. In oak, light-harvesting proteins were retained in higher abundance throughout autumn, PsbS levels increased during early autumn and lutein was enriched in late autumn samples. The results suggest that the species differ in strategies for photoprotection during autumn senescence.

Isolation and characterization of a PSI-LHCI super-complex and its sub-complexes from a siphonaceous marine green alga, Bryopsis Corticulans

A novel super-complex of photosystem I (PSI)-light-harvesting complex I (LHCI) was isolated from a siphonaceous marine green alga, Bryopsis corticulans. The super-complex contained 9-10 Lhca antennas as external LHCI bound to the core complex. The super-complex was further disintegrated into PSI core and LHCI sub-complexes, and analysis of the pigment compositions by high-performance liquid chromatography revealed unique characteristics of the B. corticulans PSI in that one PSI core contained around 14 α-carotenes and 1-2 ε-carotenes. This is in sharp contrast to the PSI core from higher plants and most cyanobacteria where only β-carotenes were present, and is the first report for an α-carotene-type PSI core complex among photosynthetic eukaryotes, suggesting a structural flexibility of the PSI core. Lhca antennas from B. corticulans contained seven kinds of carotenoids (siphonaxanthin, all-trans neoxanthin, 9'-cis neoxanthin, violaxanthin, siphonein, ε-carotene, and α-carotene) and showed a high carotenoid:chlorophyll ratio of around 7.5:13. PSI-LHCI super-complex and PSI core showed fluorescence emission peaks at 716 and 718 nm at 77 K, respectively; whereas two Lhca oligomers had fluorescence peaks at 681 and 684 nm, respectively. By comparison with spinach PSI preparations, it was found that B. corticulans PSI had less red chlorophylls, most of them are present in the core complex but not in the outer light-harvesting systems. These characteristics may contribute to the fine tuning of the energy transfer network, and to acclimate to the ever-changing light conditions under which the unique green alga inhabits.

Long-wavelength limit of photochemical energy conversion in Photosystem I

In Photosystem I (PS I) long-wavelength chlorophylls (LWC) of the core antenna are known to extend the spectral region up to 750 nm for absorbance of light that drives photochemistry. Here we present clear evidence that even far-red light with wavelengths beyond 800 nm, clearly outside the LWC absorption bands, can still induce photochemical charge separation in PS I throughout the full temperature range from 295 to 5 K. At room temperature, the photoaccumulation of P700(+•) was followed by the absorbance increase at 826 nm. At low temperatures (T < 100 K), the formation of P700(+•)FA/B(-•) was monitored by the characteristic EPR signals of P700(+•) and FA/B(-•) and by the characteristic light-minus-dark absorbance difference spectrum in the QY region. P700 oxidation was observed upon selective excitation at 754, 785, and 808 nm, using monomeric and trimeric PS I core complexes of Thermosynechococcus elongatus and Arthrospira platensis, which differ in the amount of LWC. The results show that the LWC cannot be responsible for the long-wavelength excitation-induced charge separation at low temperatures, where thermal uphill energy transfer is frozen out. Direct energy conversion of the excitation energy from the LWC to the primary radical pair, e.g., via a superexchange mechanism, is excluded, because no dependence on the content of LWC was observed. Therefore, it is concluded that electron transfer through PS I is induced by direct excitation of a proposed charge transfer (CT) state in the reaction center. A direct signature of this CT state is seen in absorbance spectra of concentrated PS I samples, which reveal a weak and featureless absorbance band extending beyond 800 nm, in addition to the well-known bands of LWC (C708, C719 and C740) in the range between 700 and 750 nm. The present findings suggest that nature can exploit CT states for extending the long wavelength limit in PSI even beyond that of LWC. Similar mechanisms may work in other photosynthetic systems and in chemical systems capable of photoinduced electron transfer processes in general.

Photosynthesis-related quantities for education and modeling

A quantitative understanding of the photosynthetic machinery depends largely on quantities, such as concentrations, sizes, absorption wavelengths, redox potentials, and rate constants. The present contribution is a collection of numbers and quantities related mainly to photosynthesis in higher plants. All numbers are taken directly from a literature or database source and the corresponding reference is provided. The numerical values, presented in this paper, provide ranges of values, obtained in specific experiments for specific organisms. However, the presented numbers can be useful for understanding the principles of structure and function of photosynthetic machinery and for guidance of future research.

Structure and function of intact photosystem 1 monomers from the cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus

Until now, the functional and structural characterization of monomeric photosystem 1 (PS1) complexes from Thermosynechococcus elongatus has been hampered by the lack of a fully intact PS1 preparation; for this reason, the three-dimensional crystal structure at 2.5 A resolution was determined with the trimeric PS1 complex [Jordan, P., et al. (2001) Nature 411 (6840), 909-917]. Here we show the possibility of isolating from this cyanobacterium the intact monomeric PS1 complex which preserves all subunits and the photochemical activity of the isolated trimeric complex. Moreover, the equilibrium between these complexes in the thylakoid membrane can be shifted by a high-salt treatment in favor of monomeric PS1 which can be quantitatively extracted below the phase transition temperature. Both monomers and trimers exhibit identical posttranslational modifications of their subunits and the same reaction centers but differ in the long-wavelength antenna chlorophylls. Their chlorophyll/P700 ratio (108 for the monomer and 112 for the trimer) is slightly higher than in the crystal structure, confirming mild preparation conditions. Interaction of antenna chlorophylls of the monomers within the trimer leads to a larger amount of long-wavelength chlorophylls, resulting in a higher photochemical activity of the trimers under red or far-red illumination. The dynamic equilibrium between monomers and trimers in the thylakoid membrane may indicate a transient monomer population in the course of biogenesis and could also be the basis for short-term adaptation of the cell to changing environmental conditions.

Photosynthetic apparatus of antenna-reaction centres supercomplexes in oxyphotobacteria: insight through significance of Pcb/IsiA proteins

In this Review we give an overview of the structure and function of the membrane-bound photosynthetic antenna reaction centre complexes present in oxyphotobacteria. We summarise how variations in the organisation of these complexes have enabled oxyphotobacteria to exploit different ecological niches and discuss the evolutionary relationships of the IsiA/Pcb family of pigment-binding proteins.

Excitation energy trapping in photosystem I complexes depleted in Lhca1 and Lhca4

We report a time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy characterization of photosystem I (PSI) particles prepared from Arabidopsis lines with knock-out mutations against the peripheral antenna proteins of Lhca1 or Lhca4. The first mutant retains Lhca2 and Lhca3 while the second retains one other light-harvesting protein of photosystem I (Lhca) protein, probably Lhca5. The results indicate that Lhca2/3 and Lhca1/4 each provides about equally effective energy transfer routes to the PSI core complex, and that Lhca5 provides a less effective energy transfer route. We suggest that the specific location of each Lhca protein within the PSI-LHCI supercomplex is more important than the presence of so-called red chlorophylls in the Lhca proteins.

Structure of cyanobacterial photosystem I

Photosystem I is one of the most fascinating membrane protein complexes for which a structure has been determined. It functions as a bio-solar energy converter, catalyzing one of the first steps of oxygenic photosynthesis. It captures the light of the sun by means of a large antenna system, consisting of chlorophylls and carotenoids, and transfers the energy to the center of the complex, driving the transmembrane electron transfer from plastoquinone to ferredoxin. Cyanobacterial Photosystem I is a trimer consisting of 36 proteins to which 381 cofactors are non-covalently attached. This review discusses the complex function of Photosystem I based on the structure of the complex at 2.5 A resolution as well as spectroscopic and biochemical data.