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X-Ray Scattering and Electron Cryomicroscopy Study on the Effect of Carotenoid Biosynthesis to the Structure of Chlorobium tepidum Chlorosomes

T. P. Ikonen ^*, H. Li , J. Peník , P. A. Laurinmäki , S. J. Butcher , N.-U. Frigaard ^¶, R. E. Serimaa ^*, D. A. Bryant  and R. Tuma 

^* Department of Physical Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania; Department of Chemical Physics and Optics, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic; Institute of Biotechnology and Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; and ^¶ Department of Molecular Biology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Correspondence: Address reprint requests to R. Tuma, Tel.: 35-89-1-915-9577; E-mail: roman.tuma{at}helsinki.fi.

Chlorosomes, the main antenna complexes of green photosynthetic bacteria, were isolated from null mutants of Chlorobium tepidum, each of which lacked one enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of carotenoids. The effects of the altered carotenoid composition on the structure of the chlorosomes were studied by means of x-ray scattering and electron cryomicroscopy. The chlorosomes from each mutant strain exhibited a lamellar arrangement of the bacteriochlorophyll c aggregates, which are the major constituents of the chlorosome interior. However, the carotenoid content and composition had a pronounced effect on chlorosome biogenesis and structure. The results indicate that carotenoids with a sufficiently long conjugated system are important for the biogenesis of the chlorosome baseplate. Defects in the baseplate structure affected the shape of the chlorosomes and were correlated with differences in the arrangement of lamellae and spacing between the lamellar planes of bacteriochlorophyll aggregates. In addition, comparisons among the various mutants enabled refinement of the assignments of the x-ray scattering peaks. While the main scattering peaks come from the lamellar structure of bacteriochlorophyll c aggregates, some minor peaks may originate from the paracrystalline arrangement of CsmA in the baseplate.

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