title: Surface charge dynamics in photosynthetic membranes and the structural consequences.
abstract: The strict stacking of plant photosynthetic membranes into granal structures plays a vital role in energy conversion. The molecular forces that lead to grana stacking, however, are poorly understood. Here we evaluate the interplay between repulsive electrostatic (Fel) and attractive van der Waals (FvdWaals) forces in grana stacking. In contrast to previous reports, we find that the physicochemical balance between attractive and repulsive forces fully explains grana stacking. Extending the force balance analysis to lateral interactions within the oxygen-evolving photosystem II (PSII)-light harvesting complex II (LHCII) supercomplex reveals that supercomplex stability is very sensitive to Felchanges. Felis highly dynamic, increasing up to 1.7-fold on addition of negative charges by phosphorylation of grana-hosted proteins. We show that this leads to specific destabilization of the supercomplex, and that changes in Felhave contrasting effects on vertical stacking and lateral intramembrane organization. This enables discrete biological control of these central structural features.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, PO Box 646340, Pullman, Washington 99164-6340, USA.
authors.forename: Sujith
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7505-4511
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Puthiyaveetil
authors.affiliation: Biophysics of Photosynthesis, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bart
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5470-1545
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: van Oort
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, PO Box 646340, Pullman, Washington 99164-6340, USA.
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kirchhoff
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000502:physiology*; D010788:Photosynthesis / Q000502:physiology*; D055672:Static Electricity; D020524:Thylakoids / Q000502:physiology*