scholarly journals Structure of the stress-related LHCSR1 complex determined by an integrated computational strategy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Guarnetti Prandi ◽  
Vladislav Sláma ◽  
Cristina Pecorilla ◽  
Lorenzo Cupellini ◽  
Benedetta Mennucci

Light-harvesting complexes (LHCs) are pigment-protein complexes whose main function is to capture sunlight and transfer the energy to reaction centers of photosystems. In response to varying light conditions, LH complexes also play photoregulation and photoprotection roles. In algae and mosses, a sub-family of LHCs, Light-Harvesting complex stress related (LHCSR), is responsible for photoprotective quenching. Despite their functional and evolutionary importance, no direct structural information on LHCSRs is available that can explain their unique properties. In this work we propose a structural model of LHCSR1 from the moss P. Patens, obtained through an integrated computational strategy that combines homology modeling, molecular dynamics, and multiscale quantum chemical calculations. The model is validated by reproducing the spectral properties of LHCSR1. Our model reveals the structural specificity of LHCSR1, as compared with the CP29 LH complex, and poses the basis for understanding photoprotective quenching in mosses.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julianne M. Troiano ◽  
Federico Perozeni ◽  
Raymundo Moya ◽  
Luca Zuliani ◽  
Kwangryul Baek ◽  
...  

AbstractUnder high light conditions, oxygenic photosynthetic organisms avoid photodamage by thermally dissipating excess absorbed energy, which is called non-photochemical quenching (NPQ). In green algae, a chlorophyll and carotenoid-binding protein, light-harvesting complex stress-related (LHCSR3), detects excess energy via pH and serves as a quenching site. However, the mechanisms by which LHCSR3 functions have not been determined. Using a combined in vivo and in vitro approach, we identify two parallel yet distinct quenching processes, individually controlled by pH and carotenoid composition, and their likely molecular origin within LHCSR3 from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The pH-controlled quenching is removed within a mutant LHCSR3 that lacks the protonable residues responsible for sensing pH. Constitutive quenching in zeaxanthin-enriched systems demonstrates zeaxanthin-controlled quenching, which may be shared with other light-harvesting complexes. We show that both quenching processes prevent the formation of damaging reactive oxygen species, and thus provide distinct timescales and mechanisms of protection in a changing environment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (12) ◽  
pp. 6502-6508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dariusz M. Niedzwiedzki ◽  
David J. K. Swainsbury ◽  
Daniel P. Canniffe ◽  
C. Neil Hunter ◽  
Andrew Hitchcock

Carotenoids play a number of important roles in photosynthesis, primarily providing light-harvesting and photoprotective energy dissipation functions within pigment–protein complexes. The carbon–carbon double bond (C=C) conjugation length of carotenoids (N), generally between 9 and 15, determines the carotenoid-to-(bacterio)chlorophyll [(B)Chl] energy transfer efficiency. Here we purified and spectroscopically characterized light-harvesting complex 2 (LH2) fromRhodobacter sphaeroidescontaining theN= 7 carotenoid zeta (ζ)-carotene, not previously incorporated within a natural antenna complex. Transient absorption and time-resolved fluorescence show that, relative to the lifetime of the S1state of ζ-carotene in solvent, the lifetime decreases ∼250-fold when ζ-carotene is incorporated within LH2, due to transfer of excitation energy to the B800 and B850 BChlsa. These measurements show that energy transfer proceeds with an efficiency of ∼100%, primarily via the S1→ Qxroute because the S1→ S0fluorescence emission of ζ-carotene overlaps almost perfectly with the Qxabsorption band of the BChls. However, transient absorption measurements performed on microsecond timescales reveal that, unlike the nativeN≥ 9 carotenoids normally utilized in light-harvesting complexes, ζ-carotene does not quench excited triplet states of BChla, likely due to elevation of the ζ-carotene triplet energy state above that of BChla. These findings provide insights into the coevolution of photosynthetic pigments and pigment–protein complexes. We propose that theN≥ 9 carotenoids found in light-harvesting antenna complexes represent a vital compromise that retains an acceptable level of energy transfer from carotenoids to (B)Chls while allowing acquisition of a new, essential function, namely, photoprotective quenching of harmful (B)Chl triplets.


1993 ◽  
Vol 340 (1294) ◽  
pp. 381-392 ◽  

Employing discontinuous sucrose density gradient centrifugation of n -dodecyl β-d-maltoside-solubilized thylakoid membranes, three chlorophyll (Chl)-protein complexes containing Chl a , Chl c 2 and peridinin in different proportions, were isolated from the dinoflagellates Symbiodinium microadriaticum, S. kawagutii, S. pilosum and Heterocapsa pygmaea . In S. microadriaticum , the first complex, containing 13% of the total cellular Chl a , and minor quantities of Chl c 2 and peridinin, is associated with polypeptides with apparent molecular mass ( M r ) of 8-9 kDa, and demonstrated inefficient energy transfer from the accessory pigments to Chl a . The second complex contains Chl a , Chl c 2 and peridinin in a molar ratio of 1:1:2, associated with two apoproteins of M r 19-20 kDa, and comprises 45%, 75% and 70%, respectively, of the cellular Chl a , Chl c 2 and peridinin. The efficient energy transfer from Chl c 2 and peridinin to Chl a in this complex is supportive of a light-harvesting function. This Chl a - c 2 - peridin-protein complex represents the major light-harvesting complex in dinoflagellates. The third complex obtained contains 12% of the cellular Chl a , and appears to be the core of photosystem I, associated with a light-harvesting complex. This complex is spectroscopically similar to analogous preparations from different taxonomic groups, but demonstrates a unique apoprotein composition. Antibodies against the water-soluble peridinin-Chl a -protein (sPCP) light-harvesting complexes failed to cross-react with any of the thylakoid-associated complexes, as did antibodies against Chl a - c -fucoxanthin apoprotein (from diatoms). Antibodies against the P 700 apoprotein of plants did not cross-react with the photosystem I complex. Similar results were observed in the other dinoflagellates.


2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (10) ◽  
pp. 4212-4217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Girolomoni ◽  
Stefano Cazzaniga ◽  
Alberta Pinnola ◽  
Federico Perozeni ◽  
Matteo Ballottari ◽  
...  

Photosynthetic organisms prevent oxidative stress from light energy absorbed in excess through several photoprotective mechanisms. A major component is thermal dissipation of chlorophyll singlet excited states and is called nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ). NPQ is catalyzed in green algae by protein subunits called LHCSRs (Light Harvesting Complex Stress Related), homologous to the Light Harvesting Complexes (LHC), constituting the antenna system of both photosystem I (PSI) and PSII. We investigated the role of LHCSR1 and LHCSR3 in NPQ activation to verify whether these proteins are involved in thermal dissipation of PSI excitation energy, in addition to their well-known effect on PSII. To this aim, we measured the fluorescence emitted at 77 K by whole cells in a quenched or unquenched state, using green fluorescence protein as the internal standard. We show that NPQ activation by high light treatment inChlamydomonas reinhardtiileads to energy quenching in both PSI and PSII antenna systems. By analyzing quenching properties of mutants affected on the expression of LHCSR1 or LHCSR3 gene products and/or state 1–state 2 transitions or zeaxanthin accumulation, namely,npq4,stt7,stt7 npq4,npq4 lhcsr1,lhcsr3-complementednpq4 lhcsr1andnpq1, we showed that PSI undergoes NPQ through quenching of the associated LHCII antenna. This quenching event is fast-reversible on switching the light off, is mainly related to LHCSR3 activity, and is dependent on thylakoid luminal pH. Moreover, PSI quenching could also be observed in the absence of zeaxanthin or STT7 kinase activity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (39) ◽  
pp. E9051-E9057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca De Vico ◽  
André Anda ◽  
Vladimir Al. Osipov ◽  
Anders Ø. Madsen ◽  
Thorsten Hansen

Natural light-harvesting is performed by pigment–protein complexes, which collect and funnel the solar energy at the start of photosynthesis. The identity and arrangement of pigments largely define the absorption spectrum of the antenna complex, which is further regulated by a palette of structural factors. Small alterations are induced by pigment–protein interactions. In light-harvesting systems 2 and 3 from Rhodoblastus acidophilus, the pigments are arranged identically, yet the former has an absorption peak at 850 nm that is blue-shifted to 820 nm in the latter. While the shift has previously been attributed to the removal of hydrogen bonds, which brings changes in the acetyl moiety of the bacteriochlorophyll, recent work has shown that other mechanisms are also present. Using computational and modeling tools on the corresponding crystal structures, we reach a different conclusion: The most critical factor for the shift is the curvature of the macrocycle ring. The bending of the planar part of the pigment is identified as the second-most important design principle for the function of pigment–protein complexes—a finding that can inspire the design of novel artificial systems.


2013 ◽  
Vol 641-642 ◽  
pp. 927-930
Author(s):  
Xing Yu Guan ◽  
J. Chee

Photosynthesis is a wonderful phenomenon which is present in green plant. In recent years, it has been discovered that there is entanglement in the biological pigment protein complexes, and that may be the reason of high transport efficiency. And coherence also plays an important role during the process of this efficiency energy transport. However, some scientists consider that it is not at all clear entanglement exists in the FMO complex, or unlike coherence, its role for the transport efficiency seems to be irrelevant. This paper mainly introduces what progress have scientists made during the past few years.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 2451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorota Kowalska ◽  
Marcin Szalkowski ◽  
Karolina Sulowska ◽  
Dorota Buczynska ◽  
Joanna Niedziolka-Jonsson ◽  
...  

The effects of combining naturally evolved photosynthetic pigment–protein complexes with inorganic functional materials, especially plasmonically active metallic nanostructures, have been a widely studied topic in the last few decades. Besides other applications, it seems to be reasonable using such hybrid systems for designing future biomimetic solar cells. In this paper, we describe selected results that point out to various aspects of the interactions between photosynthetic complexes and plasmonic excitations in Silver Island Films (SIFs). In addition to simple light-harvesting complexes, like peridinin-chlorophyll-protein (PCP) or the Fenna–Matthews–Olson (FMO) complex, we also discuss the properties of large, photosynthetic reaction centers (RCs) and Photosystem I (PSI)—both prokaryotic PSI core complexes and eukaryotic PSI supercomplexes with attached antenna clusters (PSI-LHCI)—deposited on SIF substrates.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatas H.P. Brotosudarmo ◽  
Richard J. Cogdell

Photosynthesis provides an example of a natural process that has been optimized during evolution to harness solar energy efficiently and safely, and finally to use it to produce a carbon-based fuel. Initially, solar energy is captured by the light harvesting pigment-protein complexes. In purple bacteria these antenna complexes are constructed on a rather simple modular basis. Light absorbed by these antenna complexes is funnelled downhill to reaction centres, where light drives a trans-membrane redox reaction. The light harvesting proteins not only provide the scaffolding that correctly positions the bacteriochlorophyll a and carotenoid pigments for optimal energy transfer but also creates an environment that can modulate the wavelength at which different bacteriochlorophyll molecules absorb light thereby creating the energy funnel. How these proteins can modulate the absorption spectra of the bacteriochlorophylls will be discussed in this review.


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