Structural insights into the light-driven auto-assembly process of the water-oxidizing Mn₄CaO₅-cluster in photosystem II.

ABSTRACT: In plants, algae and cyanobacteria, Photosystem II (PSII) catalyzes the light-driven splitting of water at a protein-bound Mn₄CaO₅-cluster, the water-oxidizing complex (WOC). In the photosynthetic organisms, the light-driven formation of the WOC from dissolved metal ions is a key process because it is essential in both initial activation and continuous repair of PSII. Structural information is required for understanding of this chaperone-free metal-cluster assembly. For the first time, we obtained a structure of PSII from Thermosynechococcus elongatus without the Mn₄CaO₅-cluster. Surprisingly, cluster-removal leaves the positions of all coordinating amino acid residues and most nearby water molecules largely unaffected, resulting in a pre-

SUBMITTER: Zhang M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5542773 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature