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<p>Light harvesting is essential for photosynthesis, and the diversity of light-harvesting systems enables photosynthetic organisms to acquire unique niches and thrive. Prasinophytes are marine green algae that diverge early in the evolution of photosynthetic eukaryotes and use a distinct light-harvesting complex known as Lhcp as their primary antenna. Lhcp consists of proteins and pigments unique to prasinophytes but shares some structural and functional features with the plant-type light-harvesting complex LHCII. Here, we use cryo-electron microscopy to determine the structure of Lhcp from the prasinophyte <i>Ostreococcus tauri</i> at 1.94 Å resolution, revealing all pigments responsible for light harvesting. The results show that the trimeric structure of Lhcp is stabilized by pigments, including a distinctive carotenoid identified as the <i>cis</i>-isomer of esterified antheraxanthin B. Comparison of Lhcp and plant-type LHCII reveals that while their core architecture is conserved, structural differences underlie their functional divergence. This work provides insight into the evolution of light-harvesting systems and highlights how structural diversity contributes to ecological adaptation.</p>

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Distinctive and functional pigment arrangements in Lhcp, a prasinophyte-specific photosynthetic light-harvesting complex

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年11月17日

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  • Soichiro Seki,
  • Masato Kubota,
  • Nami Yamano,
  • Eunchul Kim,
  • Asako Ishii,
  • Tomoko Miyata,
  • Hideaki Tanaka,
  • Richard J. Cogdell,
  • Jian-Ping Zhang,
  • Keiichi Namba,
  • Genji Kurisu,
  • Jun Minagawa,
  • Ritsuko Fujii

摘要

Light harvesting is essential for photosynthesis, and the diversity of light-harvesting systems enables photosynthetic organisms to acquire unique niches and thrive. Prasinophytes are marine green algae that diverge early in the evolution of photosynthetic eukaryotes and use a distinct light-harvesting complex known as Lhcp as their primary antenna. Lhcp consists of proteins and pigments unique to prasinophytes but shares some structural and functional features with the plant-type light-harvesting complex LHCII. Here, we use cryo-electron microscopy to determine the structure of Lhcp from the prasinophyte Ostreococcus tauri at 1.94 Å resolution, revealing all pigments responsible for light harvesting. The results show that the trimeric structure of Lhcp is stabilized by pigments, including a distinctive carotenoid identified as the cis-isomer of esterified antheraxanthin B. Comparison of Lhcp and plant-type LHCII reveals that while their core architecture is conserved, structural differences underlie their functional divergence. This work provides insight into the evolution of light-harvesting systems and highlights how structural diversity contributes to ecological adaptation.