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Conformational regulation of charge recombination reactions in a photosynthetic bacterial reaction center

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology volume 12, pages 630–631 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

In bright light the photosynthetic reaction center (RC) of Rhodobacter sphaeroides stabilizes the P+870·Q−A charge-separated state and thereby minimizes the potentially harmful effects of light saturation. Using X-ray diffraction we report a conformational change that occurs within the cytoplasmic domain of this RC in response to prolonged illumination with bright light. Our observations suggest a novel structural mechanism for the regulation of electron transfer reactions in photosynthesis.

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Figure 1: Electron transfer reactions within the RC.
Figure 2: Structural changes within the RC in response to bright light.

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Acknowledgements

We thank staff of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, the Swiss Light Source and MaxLab for experimental support. We acknowledge support from the Swedish Strategic Research Foundation (SSF), SWEGENE, Swedish Research Council (VR) and the European Commission Improving Human Potential program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Chalmers University of Technology, PO Box 462, Göteborg, SE-405 30, Sweden

    Gergely Katona, Arjan Snijder, Pontus Gourdon & Richard Neutze

  2. Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Göteborg University, PO Box 462, Göteborg, SE-405 30, Sweden

    Ulf Andréasson, Örjan Hansson & Lars-Erik Andréasson

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  1. Gergely Katona
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  2. Arjan Snijder
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  7. Richard Neutze
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Correspondence to Richard Neutze.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Fig. 1

Proteins and cofactors participating in electron movements within the photosynthetic membrane. (PDF 70 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 2

Absorption spectra recorded from a single RC crystal. (PDF 96 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 3

Long distance overview of the light-driven electron density changes within the RC. (PDF 182 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 4

The refined structural model and σA-weighted 2Fobs − Fcalc electron density map illustrated within the mobile region of the H-subunit. (PDF 250 kb)

Supplementary Table 1

Crystallographic data and refinement statistics. (PDF 49 kb)

Supplementary Table 2

Statistical analysis of reproducible difference density peaks. (PDF 17 kb)

Supplementary Methods (PDF 133 kb)

Supplementary Discussion (PDF 29 kb)

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Katona, G., Snijder, A., Gourdon, P. et al. Conformational regulation of charge recombination reactions in a photosynthetic bacterial reaction center. Nat Struct Mol Biol 12, 630–631 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb948

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