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Plants lacking the main light-harvesting complex retain photosystem II macro-organization

Nature volume 421, pages 648–652 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Photosystem II (PSII) is a key component of photosynthesis, the process of converting sunlight into the chemical energy of life. In plant cells, it forms a unique oligomeric macrostructure in membranes of the chloroplasts1. Several light-harvesting antenna complexes are organized precisely in the PSII macrostructure—the major trimeric complexes (LHCII)2 that bind 70% of PSII chlorophyll and three minor monomeric complexes3—which together form PSII supercomplexes4,5,6. The antenna complexes are essential for collecting sunlight and regulating photosynthesis7,8,9, but the relationship between these functions and their molecular architecture is unresolved. Here we report that antisense Arabidopsis plants lacking the proteins that form LHCII trimers10 have PSII supercomplexes with almost identical abundance and structure to those found in wild-type plants. The place of LHCII is taken by a normally minor and monomeric complex, CP26, which is synthesized in large amounts and organized into trimers. Trimerization is clearly not a specific attribute of LHCII. Our results highlight the importance of the PSII macrostructure: in the absence of one of its main components, another protein is recruited to allow it to assemble and function.

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Figure 1: PSII membrane composition.
Figure 2: PSII membrane spectra.
Figure 3: Average projections of the PSII complexes from Arabidopsis Lhcb2 plants.
Figure 4: Final result of image analysis of two-dimensional crystalline PSII complexes from Arabidopsis wild-type and Lhcb2 antisense plants.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank R. Walters for discussions. This work was supported by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the UK Joint Infrastructure Fund, the Netherlands Foundation for Scientific Research (NWO) through the Foundation for Life and Earth Sciences (ALW), and the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning and the Foundation for Strategic Research.

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Author notes

  1. A. V. Ruban, M. Wentworth, A. E. Yakushevska, J. Andersson and J. P. Dekker: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Robert Hill Institute, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Firth Court, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK

    A. V. Ruban, M. Wentworth, P. J. Lee & P. Horton

  2. Biophysical Chemistry, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands

    A. E. Yakushevska, W. Keegstra & E. J. Boekema

  3. Umeå Plant Science Centre, Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå University, S-901 87, Umeå, Sweden

    J. Andersson & S. Jansson

  4. Faculty of Sciences, Division of Physics and Astronomy, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    J. P. Dekker

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  1. A. V. Ruban
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Correspondence to P. Horton.

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Ruban, A., Wentworth, M., Yakushevska, A. et al. Plants lacking the main light-harvesting complex retain photosystem II macro-organization. Nature 421, 648–652 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01344

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