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Three-dimensional structure of the plant photosystem II reaction centre at 8 Å resolution

Nature volume 396, pages 283–286 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Photosystem II is a multisubunit enzyme complex involved in plant photosynthesis. It uses solar energy to catalyse the breakdown of water to reducing equivalents and molecular oxygen1. Native photosystem II comprises more than 25 different subunits, and has a relative molecular mass of more than 600K. Here we report the three-dimensional structure of a photosystem II subcomplex, containing the proteins D1, D2, CP47 and cytochrome b -559, determined by electron crystallography. This CP47 reaction centre, which has a relative molecular mass of 160K, can perform light-mediated energy and electron-transfer reactions but is unable to oxidize water2. The complex contains 23 transmembrane α-helices, of which 16 have been assigned to the D1, D2 and CP47 proteins. The arrangement of these helices is remarkably similar to that of the helices in the reaction centres of purple bacteria and of plant photosystem I, indicating a common evolutionary origin for these assemblies. The map suggests that redox cofactors in the D1–D2 complex are located in positions analogous to those in the bacterial reaction centre, but the distance between the chlorophylls corresponding to the bacterial ‘special pair’ is significantly larger.

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Figure 1: Three-dimensional map of the monomeric PSII reaction centre complex contoured with a 1 Å sampling interval at 2.5 s.d.
Figure 2: Comparison of D1–D2 transmembrane helices with the purple bacterial reaction centre.
Figure 3: Comparison of CP47 with the PSI inner core antenna.
Figure 4: Pigments in the CP47 reaction centre complex.
Figure 5: Comparison of the three types of reaction centre found in photosynthetic organisms.

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Acknowledgements

We thank N. Krauss for supplying the PSI coordinates. J.B. acknowledges support from B. Hankamer. This work was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (J.B.) and by a fellowship to K.-H.R. from the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Abteilung Strukturbiologie, Max-Planck-Institut für Biophysik, Heinrich-Hoffmann-Strasse 7, 60528, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Kyong-Hi Rhee & Werner Kühlbrandt

  2. EMBL, Structural Biology Programme and Biocomputing Unit, Meyerhofstrasse 1, D-69117, Heidelberg, Germany

    Kyong-Hi Rhee

  3. Biochemistry Department, Wolfson Laboratories, Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine, London, SW7 2AY, UK

    Edward P. Morris & James Barber

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  1. Kyong-Hi Rhee
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  2. Edward P. Morris
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  4. Werner Kühlbrandt
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Correspondence to James Barber or Werner Kühlbrandt.

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Rhee, KH., Morris, E., Barber, J. et al. Three-dimensional structure of the plant photosystem II reaction centre at 8 Å resolution. Nature 396, 283–286 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/24421

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