Structure and function of photosynthetic protein elucidated in detail

The photosynthetic complex I is a key element in photosynthetic electron transport. Nevertheless, little was known about him so far.

An international research team has elucidated the structure and mode of action of the photosynthetic complex I. The membrane protein complex plays an important role in the electron transport processes in photosynthesis. "The results close one of the last major knowledge gaps in the understanding of the photosynthetic electron transport pathways," says the Privatdozent Dr. med. Marc Nowaczyk, who heads the Bochum project group "Cyanobacterial Membrane Protein Complexes". He published the results online with colleagues from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Osaka University and other institutions in the top international journal "Science" on 20 December 2018.

Protein complex involved in two processes

Complex I is found in almost all living organisms. In plant cells it comes in two variants: in mitochondria, the power plants of the cell, and in chloroplasts as part of the photosynthetic machinery. The structure and function of the mitochondrial complex I has already been well studied, while the photosynthetic complex I has been poorly understood.

Highly efficient electron transport

Using cryo-electron microscopy, the researchers first elucidated the molecular structure of a photosynthetic complex I variant. The function also analyzed it more closely.

"We were able to combine the structure with the function of the photosynthetic complex I and gain a detailed insight into the molecular basis of the electron transport processes," concludes Marc Nowaczyk. "In the future, we want to create artificial electron transport chains on this basis that will enable new applications in the field of synthetic biology."
 

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