Distinctive and functional pigment arrangements in Lhcp, a prasinophyte-specific photosynthetic light-harvesting complex.

ABSTRACT: Light harvesting is essential for photosynthesis, and the diversity of light-harvesting systems enables photosynthetic organisms to acquire unique niches and thrive. Prasinophytes are marine green algae that diverge early in the evolution of photosynthetic eukaryotes and use a distinct light-harvesting complex known as Lhcp as their primary antenna. Lhcp consists of proteins and pigments unique to prasinophytes but shares some structural and functional features with the plant-type light-harvesting complex LHCII. Here, we use cryo-electron microscopy to determine the structure of Lhcp from the prasinophyte Ostreococcus tauri at 1.94 Å resolution, revealing all pigments responsible for light harvesting. The results show that the trimeric structure of Lhcp is stabilized by pigments, including

SUBMITTER: Seki S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12624006 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature