title: Photosynthesis. Structural basis for energy transfer pathways in the plant PSI-LHCI supercomplex.
abstract: Photosynthesis converts solar energy to chemical energy by means of two large pigment-protein complexes: photosystem I (PSI) and photosystem II (PSII). In higher plants, the PSI core is surrounded by a large light-harvesting complex I (LHCI) that captures sunlight and transfers the excitation energy to the core with extremely high efficiency. We report the structure of PSI-LHCI, a 600-kilodalton membrane protein supercomplex, from Pisum sativum (pea) at a resolution of 2.8 angstroms. The structure reveals the detailed arrangement of pigments and other cofactors—especially within LHCI—as well as numerous specific interactions between the PSI core and LHCI. These results provide a firm structural basis for our understanding on the energy transfer and photoprotection mechanisms within the PSI-LHCI supercomplex.
authors.affiliation: Photosynthesis Research Center, Key Laboratory of Photobiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China. Photosynthesis Research Center, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Tsushima Naka 3-1-1, Okayama 700-8530, Japan.
authors.forename: Xiaochun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Photosynthesis Research Center, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Tsushima Naka 3-1-1, Okayama 700-8530, Japan.
authors.forename: Michihiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suga
authors.affiliation: Photosynthesis Research Center, Key Laboratory of Photobiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China. kuangty@ibcas.ac.cn shen@cc.okayama-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Tingyun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuang
authors.affiliation: Photosynthesis Research Center, Key Laboratory of Photobiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China. Photosynthesis Research Center, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Tsushima Naka 3-1-1, Okayama 700-8530, Japan. kuangty@ibcas.ac.cn shen@cc.okayama-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Jian-Ren
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D002338:Carotenoids / Q000737:chemistry; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D004735:Energy Transfer; D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018532:Pisum sativum / Q000201:enzymology*; D010788:Photosynthesis; D045331:Photosystem I Protein Complex / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary
chemical_list: D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes; D045331:Photosystem I Protein Complex; D002338:Carotenoids