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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 281, Issue 43, 32705-32713, October 27, 2006
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¶1
From the
Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of South Bohemia, 370 05 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, the
Institute of Physical Biology, University of South Bohemia, 373 33 Nové Hrady, Czech Republic, the ¶Laboratory of Photosynthesis, Institute of Microbiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, 379 81 Trebon, Czech Republic, the ||Biological Center, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, and the **Institute of Microbiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, 142 20 Prague, Czech Republic
Received for publication, July 5, 2006 , and in revised form, August 18, 2006.
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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-helices and binding chlorophyll (Chl) a and b (2-5). The sequences of helix I and III are highly similar and evolutionarily related, comprising the Chl a/b-binding (CAB) residues and held together by an arginine (Arg)-glutamic acid (Glu) salt bridge. The CAB residues are made up of about 25 amino acids and include the Chl binding fold. An array of 8 Chl a, 6 Chl b, 3-4 carotenoids, and two lipids are assumed to be bound to each individual LHC apoprotein molecule (6).
LHC proteins are the most abundant members of the extended protein family with conserved Chl binding residues. Several distant relatives of LHC proteins from this family have been described from higher plants, algae, or cyanobacteria (7). These usually transiently expressed proteins include the PSII-S protein (4, 5, 8), one-helix protein or OHP (9), the early light-induced proteins or ELIPs (10, 11) and the small cyanobacterial CAB-like proteins or SCPs, also called HLIPs (12, 13).
SCPs, predicted to have a single membrane-spanning
-helix, with homologues in red algae and in higher plants, were first identified in the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 (13). Scp genes are present in all sequenced cyanobacteria, the highest number of scp genes has been found in the genomes of marine cyanobacteria adapted to high-light (HL) (14). In the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 (hereafter Synechocystis 6803) four SCPs have been identified (ScpB-E corresponding to HliC, HliA, HliB, and HliD in Ref. 15). SCPs have been found to be synthesized in response to excess excitation energy stress such as chilling, nitrogen or sulfur deprivation as well as HL (15). Furthermore, the presence of photosynthetic electron transport inhibitor DBMIB, low intensity blue or UV-A light also induced scp genes (16, 17). Extensive DNA microarray data confirm that scp genes are expressed under various stress conditions, such as: HL, low temperature, hyperosmotic stress, salt stress, or the presence of inhibitors of photosynthetic electron transport (18-22). Recent studies suggest that a sensory histidine kinase NblS of Synechococcus sp. PCC 7942 may regulate the expression of scp genes (23). Moreover, the NblS homologue in Synechocystis 6803, Hik33 (also called DspA), also controls the expression of scp genes in response to low temperature and osmotic stress (20, 24).
Interestingly, the expression of scp genes is strikingly similar to that of Elip genes (13, 15, 25) with transient mRNA accumulation during exposure of a plant to a variety of stress conditions that result in the absorption of excess excitation energy (26-28). The ELIPs have been indicated to function in photoprotection (26), most likely by functioning as transient pigment carriers during light stress-induced turnover of Chl-binding proteins (29). Like the ELIPs, the SCPs are localized in the thylakoid membranes and are important for photoacclimation during HL exposure (15, 30). By analogy to ELIPs, it has been proposed that SCPs may function directly or indirectly in the dissipation of excess light energy (25, 30, 31). They could also serve as transient carriers of Chl (12) and modulate tetrapyrrole biosynthesis (32, 33). All light stress-induced LHC relatives from plants studied so far have been found to be associated with photosystems (8, 34-36).
Here we demonstrate that the ScpD protein tagged by the His6 epitope is specifically associated with PSII. Immunogold labeling, followed by single particle analysis, identified the location of the ScpD protein to be at the periphery of the PSII complex. With the help of various PSII mutants, we have shown that ScpD protein interacts with the PSII proteins PsbH and CP47. These results are discussed in terms of the ScpD role in PSII.
| EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES |
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ScpD strain (32). Proper insertion of the scpDHis gene was confirmed by DNA sequencing, and deletion of the WT copy of the scpD gene was confirmed by PCR.
The ScpDHis/
ScpD strain was transformed with chromosomal DNA from a PSI- cell to obtain the ScpDHis/
ScpD/PSI- strain. The ScpDHis/
ScpD/PSI- strain was further transformed with chromosomal DNA from
Cyt,
CP47, and
H cells (see Table 1). The deletions were confirmed by PCR.
Radiolabeling of the Cells, Membrane Preparation, and Protein Analysis Using Two-dimensional Blue Native/SDS, Two-dimensional Native Deriphat/SDS Electrophoresis, and ImmunoblottingRadioactive labeling of cells using a mixture of L-[35S]methionine and L-[35S]cysteine (>1000 Ci mmol-1, Trans-label, ICN, final activity 400 µCi ml-1) and isolation of membranes was performed as described in Ref. 40. Isolated membranes were solubilized with n-dodecyl-
-maltoside (DM) (DM/Chl = 20 and 100 (w/w) in PSI-containing and PSI- strain, respectively), and obtained complexes were separated in the first dimension by either blue-native electrophoresis at 4 °C in 5-14% polyacrylamide gel according to (41) or native Deriphat electrophoresis as described in (42). Subunit composition of the complexes was assessed by electrophoresis in a denaturing 12-20% linear gradient polyacrylamide gel containing 7 M urea (in the second dimension) (40). Proteins separated in the gel were transferred onto PVDF membrane. The membrane was incubated with specific primary antibodies followed by incubation with a secondary antibody conjugated with horseradish peroxidase (Sigma) and chemiluminescence Lumilight substrate (Roche Applied Science). The primary antibodies used in the study were raised in rabbits against: (i) residues 58-86 of the spinach D1 polypeptide, (ii) residues 380-394 of barley CP47 (40), and (iii) monoclonal antipolyhistidine (Sigma). For autoradiography, the gel or the membrane with labeled proteins was exposed to x-ray film at laboratory temperature for 2-3 days.
Isolation of PSII and Protein AnalysisThe isolation of thylakoid membranes was performed as described in Ref. 42. The thylakoid membranes were washed until the supernatant became colorless with a buffer containing 25 mM MES, pH 6.5, 5mM MgCl2 and 5 mM CaCl2. The washed thylakoid membranes (0.25 mg Chl ml-1) were solubilized with DM (1% final concentration) for 10 min on ice. Nonsolubilized material was removed by centrifuging at 18,000 rpm for 10 min at 4 °C. PSII complexes were either isolated using sucrose density gradient centrifugation or a combination of affinity and anion exchange chromatography. The supernatant was loaded onto a discontinuous sucrose gradient (20, 30 and 50%, respectively) in buffer containing 25 mM MES, pH 6.5, 5 mM MgCl2, 5 mM CaCl2 and 0.04% DM. The PSII complexes were separated by centrifugation at 100,000 rpm (HITACHI Himac CS 120 FX, S100AT5-0208 rotor) for 4 h at 4 °C. The monomeric and dimeric PSII was recovered from the sucrose gradient and concentrated on Microcon YM-50. For chromatography, the supernatant was applied onto the column of chelating Sepharose loaded with copper ions and then the non-bound material directly passed onto the Q-Sepharose column (Amersham Biosciences) from which the PSII complexes were eluted by 25 mM MES, pH 6.5 containing 250 mM NaCl and 0.03% DM as described in Ref. 42. Composition of isolated PSII was analyzed by SDS-PAGE in a denaturing 12-20% linear gradient polyacrylamide gel containing 7 M urea. For electrophoresis, the isolated PSII was solubilized in 25 mM Tris/HCl, pH 6.8, containing 2% SDS (w/v) and 2% dithiothreitol (w/v) at room temperature for 60 min. Separated proteins in the gel were either stained by Coomassie Blue or transferred onto PVDF membrane and used for immunodetection.
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0.5) by 100% methanol. Chl content was measured spectrophotometrically on a Spectronic Unicam UV500 spectrophotometer (43). Gold Labeling of the His-tagged PSII ParticlesTo visualize the position of the ScpDHis subunit, Ni-NTA Nanogold (Nanoprobes Inc.) was used. This label is a gold cluster with attached Ni2+ enabling specific binding of the gold particle to the Histagged proteins. Well-washed thylakoid membranes were suspended in a buffer containing 20 mM Tris (pH 7.4), 100 mM NaCl, and 5 mM CaCl2 at a Chl concentration of 100 µgml-1 and mixed with an equal volume of Ni-NTA Nanogold solution (30 nM). The solution was incubated for 30 min at 4 °C and the free Ni2+-NTA groups on gold labels were saturated by 1 mM L-histidine for a further 10 min on ice. Thylakoid membranes were then solubilized with 1% DM for 15 min and the unsolubilized material was removed by centrifugation at 60,000 x g for 30 min. The supernatant was loaded onto a freshly prepared 0.1-1.2 M continuous sucrose density gradient prepared by freezing and thawing the centrifuge tubes filled with a buffer containing 20 mM Tris (pH 7.4), 0.6 M sucrose, 10 mM NaCl, 5 mM CaCl2, and 0.05% DM (44), and the PSII complexes were separated by centrifugation at 150,000 x g (Hitachi, P56SW rotor) for 14 h at 4 °C. The lower green band containing the PSII dimers was harvested with a syringe and loaded onto a Sephadex G-25 (Amersham Biosciences) desalting column equilibrated with 20 mM Tris (pH 7.4) containing 0.05% DM. Nonlabeled PSII particles were prepared as described above, but the Ni-NTA Nanogold labeling step was omitted during the procedure.
Electron Microscopy and Image AnalysisFreshly prepared labeled PSII complexes eluted from the desalting column were placed on glow-discharged carbon-coated copper grids and negatively stained with 0.75% uranyl acetate. Electron microscopy was performed with a Philips TEM 420 electron microscope using 80 kV at x60,000 magnification. Micrographs free from astigmatism and drift were scanned with a pixel size corresponding to 4.5 Å at the specimen level. Image analyses were carried out using SPIDER software (45). From 63 micrographs of the PSII cores, about 2900 top-view projections of unlabeled particles and 472 side-view projections of labeled particles were selected for analysis. Both separate data sets were rotationally and translationally aligned, and subjected to multivariate statistical analysis in combination with classification (46, 47). Classes from each of the subsets were used for refinement of alignments and subsequent classifications. For the final sum, the best of the class members were summed using a cross-correlation coefficient of the alignment procedure as a quality parameter. The resolution of the images was calculated using the Fourier ring correlation method (48). For molecular modeling, the coordinates were taken from the Protein Data Bank under the code 1S5L [PDB] for PSII structure at 3.5-Å resolution (49). The overlay cartoon was generated by the freeware program Accelrys ViewerLite 4.2
| RESULTS |
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ScpD/PSI- strain was used to determine the localization of the ScpDHis protein. Using the anti-His monoclonal antibody, a single band was detected in the thylakoids of the ScpDHis/
ScpD/PSI- strain (Fig. 1). No such band was detected in the fraction of soluble proteins from this strain and in the thylakoids of PSI- (not shown) and ScpDHis/
ScpD strains grown at 30 µmol photon m-2 s-1 (Fig. 1). However, the ScpDHis band was detectable in the ScpDHis/
ScpD strain grown under HL (Fig. 1).
The ScpDHis Protein Is Associated with Photosystem IITo further localize the ScpDHis protein in the thylakoid membranes, we performed two-dimensional analysis of thylakoid proteins. Mildly solubilized thylakoid protein complexes from the ScpDHis/
ScpD/PSI- strain were first separated by nondenaturing blue native (BN) or Deriphat PAGE and their subunit composition was determined by SDS-PAGE in combination with Western blotting in the second dimension. Both methods yielded similar results with the majority of the ScpDHis being present in two complexes at about 300 and 220 kDa (Fig. 2A). These complexes had been previously identified as a monomeric reaction center core complex (RCC1) and a smaller reaction center core subcomplex (RC47), which contains CP47 but no CP43 (40) (Fig. 3). BN-PAGE provided a better separation of the complexes than Deriphat-PAGE (not shown) and was therefore used subsequently. In the
CP47 background where no PSII core is assembled, the ScpDHis/
ScpD/PSI-/
CP47 mutant accumulated a significant amount of ScpDHis; however this protein was localized in a region of the small protein complexes and free proteins (Fig. 2B). Thus, ScpDHis comigrated with PSII in two different buffer systems and ScpDHis association with large thylakoid complexes was dependent on PSII accumulation, indicating that ScpDHis is associated with PSII.
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ScpD/PSI- strain by sucrose density gradient centrifugation or by a combination of affinity and ion exchange chromatography. The complexes were further purified by BN-PAGE. Green PSII bands were cut from the native gel and subjected to SDS-PAGE and immunodetected with anti-His antibody. ScpDHis protein was present in all PSII preparations (Fig. 4). The His tag is widely used to isolate tagged proteins under native conditions by nickel affinity chromatography allowing co-purification of proteins associated with the tagged protein. However, native isolation of the ScpDHis protein was not successful and no ScpDHis protein was found in the fraction eluted from the nickel column (not shown).
ScpDHis Protein ExpressionAs the ScpDHis protein had been expressed under light-inducible psbA2 promoter, we tried to follow its expression after HL treatment. Protein expression in WT and ScpDHis/
ScpD cells was compared using autoradiography after two-dimensional PAGE (BN/SDS-PAGE). Cells were pulse-labeled with a mixture of [35S]Met and Cys under HL conditions. Electrophoretic analysis of labeled proteins and autoradiography showed the expression of a new 7-kDa protein in the ScpDHis/
ScpD strain that was absent in WT. Again, this protein was associated with RCC1 and RC47 (Fig. 3). The position of this 7 kDa protein on the membrane was identical to that of the ScpDHis protein detected by immunoblotting (Fig. 2A) demonstrating that the expressed protein is ScpDHis.
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H background (strain ScpDHis/
ScpD/PSI-/
H containing ScpDHis but lacking PSI and the PsbH subunit of PSII), the ScpDHis protein was not associated with PSII but was present in a region of small protein complexes or free proteins (Fig. 5). Note that the
H mutant grown in the presence of glucose exhibits activity in oxygen evolution similar to that of WT (50) and also contains a similar set of PSII complexes (51). This indicates that the PsbH protein is necessary for ScpDHis association with PSII.
Unlike the
H strain, the mutant
Cyt lacking the psbEFLJ operon does not accumulate any stable PSII subcomplexes, however it does contain a small amount of unassembled CP47 that is resolved in the BN gels as a double band (40) containing not only CP47 but also PsbH (51). In the ScpDHis/
ScpD/PSI-/
Cyt strain, most of the ScpDHis protein was present in a region of small protein complexes or free proteins (Fig. 5). However, a significant amount of ScpDHis was associated with one of the two bands of unassembled CP47. The observation that ScpD is indeed part of this CP47·PsbH complex and that co-migration with CP47 on a two-dimensional gel (Fig. 5) is not just accidental, was confirmed by isolation of this complex from the
Cyt strain expressing the His-tagged PsbH (not shown). This indicates that ScpDHis is associated with CP47 and PsbH under conditions when PSII assembly is blocked at the early step of formation of reaction center (RC) complexes because of the absence of cytochrome b559 and D2 (40).
Localization of ScpDHis Using Electron MicroscopyTo further confirm the location of the His-tagged ScpD subunit within PSII, the dimeric PSII complexes were labeled with Ni-NTA Nanogold and visualized in an electron transmission microscope. As the labeling procedure previously used for the localization of the PsbH protein (52) yielded no labeling, an alternative procedure had to be developed that included direct labeling of thylakoid membranes prior to their solubilization and isolation of PSII complexes.
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The side-view projections showed two single PSII dimers aggregated with their stromal surface (Fig. 7C). Protrusions on the luminal sides of the single PSII dimer corresponded to the proteins of the oxygen-evolving complex (44). In side views the labels were located between the two single PSII particles in the paired structures (Fig. 7F). This clearly identifies the His tag, and therefore, the N terminus of the ScpD protein on the stromal side of the PSII complex.
| DISCUSSION |
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H lacking the small PsbH protein, ScpDHis is no longer detected within PSII, indicating that the PsbH protein is important for the proper association of ScpDHis with PSII.
The His-tagged ScpD protein, this time with the tag on the C terminus, has been used previously to follow ScpD accumulation and potential association with other proteins (15). Interestingly, in this study the ScpD protein was found in the
100 kDa fraction after gel filtration, apparently not associated with PSII. This raises the question as to whether the observed association of ScpDHis with PSII is not an artifact caused by the His tag. This is probably not the case as the native forms of ScpD and ScpC seem to be also associated with PSII (see below). We also attempted to isolate complexes containing ScpDHis under native conditions by nickel affinity chromatography in a similar procedure that we have used recently for the His-tagged PsbH protein (52). However, no ScpDHis protein was found in the fraction eluted from the column. We assume that this may be caused by the low accessibility of the His tag on ScpD bound to the PSII complex.
Similar problems were encountered during labeling of ScpDHis for single particle analysis by Ni-NTA Nanogold, when no label was bound to PSII. Therefore, a different labeling procedure than the one used recently for the His-tagged PsbH protein (52) had to be developed for a successful labeling. The combination of Ni-NTA Nanogold labeling of His-tagged protein and single particle analysis provides an excellent tool to localize protein subunits within a protein complex (52, 56). The main advantage to conventional immunogold labeling procedures is the close proximity of the gold particle to the His tag, enabling a more accurate localization of the target protein. Using this procedure we localized the ScpDHis protein on the periphery of PSII dimers. To identify PSII proteins in the vicinity of the gold label we have overlaid a model of the transmembrane helix organization of PSII into a top-view projection map of the labeled PSII particle. Fig. 8 shows that the Ni-NTA gold label is found to be close to the transmembrane helices of the CP47 and PsbH proteins. This is in full agreement with other data indicating the proximity of ScpDHis to the CP47 and PsbH proteins. Moreover, the labeling confirmed that the Ni-NTA Nanogold and therefore, also, the N terminus of the ScpD protein is localized on the stromal side of the thylakoid membrane. Electron microscopy and single particle analysis did not reveal any differences between PSII dimers isolated from normal or HL-treated cells, indicating that SCPs do not form large complexes at or around PSII comparable to IsiA rings formed around the PSI trimers in iron-depleted conditions (57). When compared with the location of the PSII subunit PsbH using a similar approach (52), localization of the gold label on the ScpDHis protein is less distinct (Fig. 7, D and E). This may indicate that the position of ScpDHis in PSII is more ambiguous. Moreover, several gold labels were distinguishable on each side of the PSII dimer, indicating that more than one copy of ScpDHis may be bound per PSII monomer.
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H background similarly as in the case of ScpDHis.3 We think that this 6-kDa band in WT is formed at least in part by native ScpD. However, the 6-kDa band is still present in the ScpDHis/
ScpD mutant lacking the native ScpD protein (Fig. 3). We speculate that this band belongs to the ScpC protein known to have similar electrophoretic mobility as ScpD (15). Indirect evidence indicates that ScpD may associate with the highly homologous ScpC in thylakoid membranes, based on their co-purification during gel filtration of solubilized thylakoids and on their accumulation kinetics following exposure to HL (15). ScpC and ScpD have been also proposed to functionally complement each other (33). SCPs are generally expected to form complexes in the thylakoid membranes based on the presumption that they are Chl-binding proteins and that in LHCII, interaction of two homologous helices is necessary for pigment binding (58). Indeed, SCPs have been detected in high molecular weight complexes/aggregates by gel filtration (15) or electrophoresis (12).
ScpD is considered to be a general stress protein that accumulates under various stress conditions. Extensive DNA microarray data show that ScpD is induced by almost all stresses tested including HL, nutrient deprivation or low temperature (18, 20, 59). In our experiments, ScpD protein became one of the most expressed proteins in the thylakoid membranes after 30 min of HL treatment (Fig. 3). However, scp genes are also expressed under standard growth conditions (18-22). In cells maintained in low light and under optimal growth conditions, low levels of SCPs have been detected after partial purification (15).
SCPs and their larger relatives, ELIPs containing three transmembrane helices, share more than just the Chl binding motif. Both groups exhibit a similar pattern of expression under various stress conditions and both represent relatively short-lived proteins (11, 15). Similarly to the association of ScpDHis with PSII, ELIP in pea has been found in the margins of the grana where PSII is assembled, and cross-linking experiments indicated the proximity of the pea ELIP to PSII (34). Based on these similarities, analogous functions have been proposed for both SCPs and ELIPs, ranging from a transient pigment carrier function (33, 60) to their role in the dissipation of excess light energy (30, 31). Indirect evidence is growing that ELIPs may be involved in the binding of Chl released during turnover of PSII and in protein stabilization during PSII assembly (29). ELIPs are expressed not only under typical stress conditions represented by HL stress or in the process of thylakoid biogenesis during greening, but also during the reverse process of thylakoid disassembly represented by leaf senescence (61) or by chloroplast-to-chromoplast transitions during fruit ripening (62). This emphasizes the ubiquity of ELIPs during normal developmental processes when there is an increased pigment/protein turnover. Also SCPs are implicated in several processes involving Chl biosynthesis and/or accumulation. Similar to ELIPs, SCPs are necessary to ensure a high rate of Chl accumulation in cells during greening (33, 63). Also Chl stability in the dark was negatively influenced by the absence of SCPs (33). This may be explained by the destabilization of PSII pigment-protein complexes and/or by inefficient Chl recycling (33). This is in line with our observation that ScpD significantly accumulates after several days of incubation in the dark,4 suggesting that SCPs are physically present there to fulfill the above functions and that accumulation of SCPs can be also triggered by factors other than external stress. Interestingly, CP47, the binding partner of ScpDHis, is the most stable Chl protein of PSII and during PSII assembly and repair it is the most frequently reused large PSII subunit, as demonstrated by significantly lower levels of its radioactive labeling in comparison with D1, D2, and CP43 (40). Thus, it is tempting to speculate that SCPs contribute to this stability of CP47.
In conclusion, we have shown that the His-tagged ScpD protein, an abundant member of the SCP family in Synechocystis 6803 is located on the periphery of PSII in the proximity of the PSII subunits CP47 and PsbH. This localization is in accordance with most of the functions suggested for SCPs. However, because of the observed stoichiometry of only one to several copies of ScpD per PSII and because of the ScpD presence in PSII subcomplexes containing CP47 and PsbH we favor the idea of ScpD being involved in the process of stabilization of pigment-binding proteins, particularly CP47, during PSII assembly and repair.
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1 To whom correspondence should be addressed: Inst. of Microbiology, Laboratory of Photosynthesis, Opatovicky mlyn, 379 81 Trebon, Czech Republic. Tel.: 420-384-722-268; Fax: 420-384-721-246; E-mail: tichym{at}alga.cz.
2 The abbreviations used are: LHC, light-harvesting complex; BN-PAGE, blue native-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; CAB, chlorophyll a/b binding; Chl, chlorophyll; Cyt, cytochrome b559; DBMIB, 2,5-dibromo-3-methyl-1,6-isopropyl-benzoquinone; DM, n-dodecyl-
-maltoside; ELIP, early light-induced protein; HL, high-light; His tag, His6 epitope; HLIP, high-light-induced protein; Ni-NTA, nickel nitrilotriacetic acid; OHP, one-helix protein; PSI, photosystem I; PSII, photosystem II; RC, reaction center; RC47, reaction center core lacking the inner antenna CP43; SCP, small Cab-like protein; WT, wild type; PVDF, polyvinylidene difluoride: MES, 4-morpholineethanesulfonic acid. ![]()
3 J. Komenda, unpublished data. ![]()
4 K. Promnares, unpublished data. ![]()
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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