Photosynthetic acclimation: structural reorganisation of light harvesting antenna--role of redox-dependent phosphorylation of major and minor chlorophyll a/b binding proteins

FEBS J. 2008 Mar;275(6):1056-68. doi: 10.1111/j.1742-4658.2008.06262.x.

Abstract

In order to carry out photosynthesis, plants and algae rely on the co-operative interaction of two photosystems: photosystem I and photosystem II. For maximum efficiency, each photosystem should absorb the same amount of light. To achieve this, plants and green algae have a mobile pool of chlorophyll a/b-binding proteins that can switch between being light-harvesting antenna for photosystem I or photosystem II, in order to maintain an optimal excitation balance. This switch, termed state transitions, involves the reversible phosphorylation of the mobile chlorophyll a/b-binding proteins, which is regulated by the redox state of the plastoquinone-mediating electron transfer between photosystem I and photosystem II. In this review, we will present the data supporting the function of redox-dependent phosphorylation of the major and minor chlorophyll a/b-binding proteins by the specific thylakoid-bound kinases (Stt7, STN7, TAKs) providing a molecular switch for the structural remodelling of the light-harvesting complexes during state transitions. We will also overview the latest X-ray crystallographic and electron microscopy-derived models for structural re-arrangement of the light-harvesting antenna during State 1-to-State 2 transition, in which the minor chlorophyll a/b-binding protein, CP29, and the mobile light-harvesting complex II trimer detach from the light-harvesting complex II-photosystem II supercomplex and associate with the photosystem I core in the vicinity of the PsaH/L/O/P domain.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Acclimatization*
  • Algal Proteins / chemistry*
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes / chemistry*
  • Microscopy, Electron
  • Oxidation-Reduction
  • Phosphorylation
  • Photosynthesis*
  • Photosystem I Protein Complex / chemistry*
  • Photosystem II Protein Complex / chemistry*
  • Plant Proteins / chemistry*
  • Protein Conformation

Substances

  • Algal Proteins
  • Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes
  • Photosystem I Protein Complex
  • Photosystem II Protein Complex
  • Plant Proteins