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Biophys. J. BioFAST: First Published May 26, 2006. doi:10.1529/biophysj.106.084228
© 2006 by the Biophysical Society.

A more recent version of this article appeared on August 15, 2006.
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PHOTOBIOPHYSICS

Internal structure of chlorosomes from brown-colored Chlorobium species and the role of carotenoids in their assembly

Jakub Psencik 1, Juan B. Arellano 2, Teemu P. Ikonen 3, Carles M. Borrego 4, Pasi A. Laurinmaki 3, Sarah J. Butcher 3, Ritva E. Serimaa 3 and Roman Tuma 3*

1 Charles University
2 CSIC
3 University of Helsinki
4 University of Girona

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: roman.tuma{at}helsinki.fi.

Submitted on February 28, 2006
Revised on April 18, 2006
Accepted on 15 May 2006


  Abstract
Chlorosomes are the main light harvesting complexes of green photosynthetic bacteria. Recently, a lamellar model was proposed for the arrangement of pigment aggregates in Chlorobium (Chl.) tepidum chlorosomes, which contain bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) c as the main pigment. Here we demonstrate that the lamellar organization is also found in chlorosomes from two brown-colored species (Chl. phaeovibrioides and Chl. phaeobacteroides) containing BChl e as the main pigment. This suggests that the lamellar model is universal among green sulfur bacteria. In contrast to green-colored Chl. tepidum, chlorosomes from the brown-colored species often contain domains of lamellar aggregates that may help them to survive in extremely low light conditions. We suggest that carotenoids are localized between the lamellar planes and drive lamellar assembly by augmenting hydrophobic interactions. A model for chlorosome assembly, which accounts for the role of carotenoids and secondary BChl homologues, is presented.

Key Words: X-ray, assembly, bacteriochlorophyll aggregates, electron microscopy, light-harvesting complex, structure




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Copyright © 2006 by the Biophysical Society.