Cryo-EM structure of a Ca2+-bound photosynthetic LH1-RC complex containing multiple αβ-polypeptides

Nat Commun. 2020 Oct 2;11(1):4955. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18748-3.

Abstract

The light-harvesting-reaction center complex (LH1-RC) from the purple phototrophic bacterium Thiorhodovibrio strain 970 exhibits an LH1 absorption maximum at 960 nm, the most red-shifted absorption for any bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) a-containing species. Here we present a cryo-EM structure of the strain 970 LH1-RC complex at 2.82 Å resolution. The LH1 forms a closed ring structure composed of sixteen pairs of the αβ-polypeptides. Sixteen Ca ions are present in the LH1 C-terminal domain and are coordinated by residues from the αβ-polypeptides that are hydrogen-bonded to BChl a. The Ca2+-facilitated hydrogen-bonding network forms the structural basis of the unusual LH1 redshift. The structure also revealed the arrangement of multiple forms of α- and β-polypeptides in an individual LH1 ring. Such organization indicates a mechanism of interplay between the expression and assembly of the LH1 complex that is regulated through interactions with the RC subunits inside.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Bacteriochlorophyll A / metabolism
  • Binding Sites
  • Calcium / metabolism*
  • Chromatiaceae / metabolism
  • Cryoelectron Microscopy*
  • Detergents / chemistry
  • Dimerization
  • Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes / chemistry
  • Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes / metabolism
  • Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes / ultrastructure*
  • Lipids / chemistry
  • Peptides / chemistry
  • Peptides / metabolism*
  • Photosynthesis*
  • Quinones / chemistry

Substances

  • Bacteriochlorophyll A
  • Detergents
  • Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes
  • Lipids
  • Peptides
  • Quinones
  • Calcium