Solar energy is an essential energy source for all life. Plants harvest solar energy by utilizing photosynthesis reactions, in which they optimize the efficiency of sunlight utilization. One mechanism of optimization is “state transition”, a system that balances the driving of two photosystems (Photosystem I and Photosystem II). In this study, they extracted the Photosystem I State Transition Supercomplex (PSI-LHCI-LHCII supercomplex), where Photosystem I, antenna system LHCI providing light energy to this system, and LHCII conveyed from Photosystem II are bound, from green algae cells, and determined its three-dimensional structure using a cryo-electron microscope. This method revealed details of the state transitions involving the light-harvesting antenna LHCII between two large photosynthetic complexes. This research was achieved by an international team including Assistant Professor Ryutaro Tokutsu and Professor Jun Minagawa at the National Institutes of Natural Sciences, National Institute for Basic Biology (Current affiliation: Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University), Project Professor Kazuyoshi Murata at National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Project Associate Professor Kenji Takizawa at the Astrobiology Center, Assistant Professor Tomohito Yamasaki at Faculty of Science and Engineering, Kochi University, and Dr. Mei Li at Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The achievements were published in Nature Plants on July 8, 2021.
Release Details: RIKEN Press Release
Journal Information
Title: Structural basis of LhcbM5-mediated state transitions in green algae
Authors: Xiaowei Pan, Ryutaro Tokutsu, Anjie Li, Kenji Takizawa, Chihong Song, Kazuyoshi Murata, Tomohito Yamasaki, Zhenfeng Liu, Jun Minagawa, Mei Li
Nature Plants
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-021-00960-8
DOI:10.1038/s41477-021-00960-8
