biostudies-literatureSeki SMEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)MEXT | JST | Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST)Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED)1586https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12624006biostudies-literatureUnknown8(1)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, includingCommunications biologyDistinctive and functional pigment arrangements in Lhcp, a prasinophyte-specific photosynthetic light-harvesting complex.PMC12624006JP23ama12100123H04958KAKENHI 23K05721KAKENHI 24H02091JPMJCR20E1K23KJ1834JP23ama121003Seki STanaka HYamano NKim EMinagawa JKubota MZhang JPFujii RIshii AMiyata TCogdell RJKurisu GNamba KfalseDistinctive and functional pigment arrangements in Lhcp, a prasinophyte-specific photosynthetic light-harvesting complex.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, including2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 Nov2026-06-05T16:35:44.411Z2026-05-18T03:13:15.357ZS-EPMC126240064124956810.1038/s42003-025-08977-x