Henny van Roon

Specific association of photosystem II and light-harvesting complex II in partially solubilized photosystem II membranes

In this study, we report the structural characterization of photosystem II complexes obtained from partially solubilized photosystem II membranes. Direct observation by electron microscopy, within a few minutes after a mild disruption of the membranes with the detergent n‐dodecyl‐α,d‐maltoside, revealed the presence of several large supramolecular complexes. Images of these complexes were subjected to multivariate statistical analysis and classification procedures, resolving a new complex consisting of the previously characterized dimeric supercomplex of photosystem II and light‐harvesting complex II [Boekema et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92 (1995) 175–179] and two additional, symmetrically organized protein masses each containing a second type of trimeric light‐harvesting II complex. We conclude that large and labile integral membrane proteins, such as photosystem II, can be quickly structurally characterized without extensive purification.

Heptameric association of light-harvesting complex II trimers in partially solubilized photosystem II membranes

We report a structural characterization by electron microscopy and image analysis of a supramolecular complex consisting of seven trimeric light‐harvesting complex II proteins. The complex was readily observed in partially‐solubilized Tris‐washed photosystem II membranes from spinach but was also found to occur, with a low frequency, in oxygen‐evolving photosystem II membranes. The structure reveals six peripheral trimers with the same rotational orientation and a central trimer with the opposite orientation. We conclude that the heptamer represents a naturally occurring aggregation state of part of the light‐harvesting complex II trimers in the thylakoid membranes.

Solubilization of green plant thylakoid membranes with n-dodecyl, D-maltoside. Implications for the structural organization of the photosystem II, photosystem I, ATP synthase and cytochrome b6f complexes

A biochemical and structural analysis is presented of fractions that were obtained by a quick and mild solubilization of thylakoid membranes from spinach with the non-ionic detergent n-dodecyl-α,D-maltoside, followed by a partial purification using gel filtration chromatography. The largest fractions consisted of paired, appressed membrane fragments with an average diameter of about 360 nm and contain Photosystem II (PS II) and its associated light-harvesting antenna (LHC II), but virtually no Photosystem I, ATP synthase and cytochrome b6f complex. Some of the membranes show a semi-regular ordering of PS II in rows at an average distance of about 26.3 nm, and from a partially disrupted grana membrane fragment we show that the supercomplexes of PS II and LHC II represent the basic structural unit of PS II in the grana membranes. The numbers of free LHC II and PS II core complexes were very high and very low, respectively. The other macromolecular complexes of the thylakoid membrane occurred almost exclusively in dispersed forms. Photosystem I was observed in monomeric or multimeric PS I-200 complexes and there are no indications for free LHC I complexes. An extensive analysis by electron microscopy and image analysis of the CF0F1 ATP synthase complex suggests locations of the δ (on top of the F1 headpiece) and ∈ subunits (in the central stalk) and reveals that in a substantial part of the complexes the F1 headpiece is bended considerably from the central stalk. This kinking is very likely not an artefact of the isolation procedure and may represent the complex in its inactive, oxidized form.

Photosystem II solubilizes as a monomer by mild detergent treatment of unstacked thylakoid membranes

We studied the aggregation state of Photosystem II in stacked and unstacked thylakoid membranes from spinach after a quick and mild solubilization with the non-ionic detergent n-dodecyl-α,D-maltoside, followed by analysis by diode-array-assisted gel filtration chromatography and electron microscopy. The results suggest that Photosystem II (PS II) isolates either as a paired, appressed membrane fragment or as a dimeric PS II-LHC II supercomplex upon mild solubilization of stacked thylakoid membranes or PS II grana membranes, but predominantly as a core monomer upon mild solubilization of unstacked thylakoid membranes. Analysis of paired grana membrane fragments reveals that the number of PS II dimers is strongly reduced in single membranes at the margins of the grana membrane fragments. We suggest that unstacking of thylakoid membranes results in a spontaneous disintegration of the PS II-LHC II supercomplexes into separated PS II core monomers and peripheral light-harvesting complexes.

Functional implications of pigments bound to a cyanobacterial cytochrome b6f complex

A highly purified cytochrome b6f complex from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 selectively binds one chlorophyll a and one carotenoid in analogy to the recent published structure from two other b6f complexes. The unknown function of these pigments was elucidated by spectroscopy and site‐directed mutagenesis. Low‐temperature redox difference spectroscopy showed red shifts in the chlorophyll and carotenoid spectra upon reduction of cytochrome b6, which indicates coupling of these pigments with the heme groups and thereby with the electron transport. This is supported by the correlated kinetics of these redox reactions and also by the distinct orientation of the chlorophyll molecule with respect to the heme cofactors as shown by linear dichroism spectroscopy. The specific role of the carotenoid echinenone for the cytochrome b6f complex of Synechocystis 6803 was elucidated by a mutant lacking the last step of echinenone biosynthesis. The isolated mutant complex preferentially contained a carotenoid with 0, 1 or 2 hydroxyl groups (most likely 9‐cis isomers of β‐carotene, a monohydroxy carotenoid and zeaxanthin, respectively) instead. This indicates a substantial role of the carotenoid – possibly for strucure and assembly – and a specificity of its binding site which is different from those in most other oxygenic photosynthetic organisms. In summary, both pigments are probably involved in the structure, but may also contribute to the dynamics of the cytochrome b6f complex.

Jumping mode atomic force microscopy on grana membranes from spinach

The thylakoid membrane system is a complex membrane system that organizes and reorganizes itself to provide plants optimal chemical energy from sunlight under different and varying environmental conditions. Grana membranes are part of this system and contain the light-driven water-splitting enzyme Photosystem II (PSII) and light-harvesting antenna complexes. Here, we present a direct visualization of PSII complexes within grana membranes from spinach. By means of jumping mode atomic force microscopy in liquid, minimal forces were applied between the scanning tip and membrane or protein, allowing complexes to be imaged with high detail. We observed four different packing arrangements of PSII complexes, which occur primarily as dimers: co-linear crystalline rows, nanometric domains of straight or skewed rows, and disordered domains. Upon storing surface-adhered membranes at low temperature prior to imaging, large-scale reorganizations of supercomplexes between PSII and light-harvesting complex II could be induced. The highest resolution images show the existence of membrane domains without obvious topography extending beyond supercomplexes. These observations illustrate the possibility for diffusion of proteins and smaller molecules within these densely packed membranes.

Photophysics in single light-harvesting complexes II: from micelle to native nanodisks

Most photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes of algae and higher plants are integral membrane proteins and are thus usually isolated in the presence of detergent to provide a hydrophobic interface and prevent aggregation. It was recently shown that the styrene maleic acid (SMA) copolymer can be used instead to solubilize and isolate protein complexes with their native lipid environment into nanodisk particles. We isolated LHCII complexes in SMA and compared their photophysics with trimeric LHCII complexes in β-DM detergent micelles to understand the effect of the native environment on the function of light-harvesting antennae. The triplet state kinetics and the calculated relative absorption cross section of single complexes indicate the successful isolation of trimeric complexes in SMA nanodisks, confirming the trimeric structure as the likely native configuration. The survival time of complexes before they photobleach is increased in SMA compared to detergent which might be explained by a stabilizing effect of the co-purified lipids in nanodisks. We furthermore find an unquenched fluorescence lifetime of 3.5 ns for LHCII in SMA nanodisks which coincides with detergent isolated complexes and notably differs from 2 ns typically found in native thylakoid structures. A large dynamic range of partially quenched complexes both in detergent micelles and lipid nanodisks is demonstrated by correlating the fluorescence lifetime with the intensity and likely reflects the conformational freedom of these complexes. This further supports the hypothesis that fluorescence intermittency is an intrinsic property of LHCII that may be involved in excess energy dissipation in native light-harvesting.