Japanese-German team visualizes terminal electron tansfer reaction in photosynthesis

The groups of Genji KURISU at Osaka University’s Protein Research Institute, in collaboration with Matthias RÖGNER of Bochum University, have used high-resolution x-ray images of photosystem I obtained at Osaka University’s beamline at the RIKEN’s synchrotron radiation facility SPring-8 to visualize how electrons obtained from water are transferred to photosystem I protein through the thylakoid membrane circuit and on to the last recipient, the electron carrier protein ferredoxin, which in turn empowers various enzymes. T team found that ferredoxin binds to photochemical system I and asymmetrically changes the structure of photometric I trimer only when it binds. The structure of photosystem I was altered in a cohesive fashion, and the binding of cytochrome, another electron carrier protein, was coordinated with the binding of ferredoxin.

JST news release, April 3, 2018

Japanese-German team visualizes terminal electron tansfer reaction in photosynthesis
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