Formation of the light-harvesting complex I (B870) of anoxygenic phototrophic purple bacteria

Abstract

The light-harvesting (LH) complex I (B870) of anoxygenic photosynthetic purple bacteria is the oligomeric form of its subunit B820 consisting of the low-molecular-weight polypeptides α, β, bacteriochlorophyll (BChl), and carotenoids in the stoichiometric ratio [α₁β₁ (BChl₂) Crt_1–2]_n. LHI surrounds the photochemical reaction center (RC). The major absorption band of the LHI complex is species-specific and is found at 870–890 nm; those of the subunit and the monomeric BChl a (dissolved in methanol) absorb at 820 and 770 nm, respectively. The isolated LHI complex can be reversibly dissociated to the B820 subunit or to the polypeptides and pigments by addition of detergents. Reconstitution of the B820 or the functional B870 complex is still possible after partial truncation of the N- or C-terminal regions of the α- or β-polypeptide or of the β-polypeptide only. The minimal structural requirements for reconstitution of a spectrally wild-type form after truncation of the polypeptides and/or modifications of the BChl molecule are described. The insertion of the LHIα- and LHIβ-polypeptides into the membrane and the in vivo assembly of LHI, studied in a cell-free system and in whole cells of Rhodobacter capsulatus, depend on the primary structures of both polypeptides, BChl, the chaperones DnaK and GroEL, membrane-bound proteins, and energized membranes. Exchanges, deletions, or insertions of amino acyl residues, especially in the conserved region of the N-terminus of the LHIα-polypeptide, prevent or reduce the efficiency and stability of the LHI assembly. Therefore, reconstitution of LHI in a detergent micelle does not exactly reproduce the formation of the LHI complex in the photosynthetic membrane in vivo. The N-terminal domains play a crucial role in the formation of the oligomeric protein scaffold and of the pigment array.

Facultatively phototrophic bacteria such as Rhodospirillum (Rsp.) rubrum or Rhodobacter (Rba.) capsulatus can adjust to changes in oxygen tension, light intensity, temperature, and substrates to grow under chemotrophic or phototrophic conditions. The photosynthetic apparatus (PSA), localized mainly on intracytoplasmic membranes (ICM), is usually synthesized only under low oxygen partial pressure. The cellular amount and composition of the PSA are modified upon changing light intensity in relation to cell growth (Drews and Golecki 1995). The morphogenesis of cellular structures like ICM is quite different from self-assembly. Self-assembly is a reversible process of aggregation of the constituents of a complex structure without protein synthesis and is driven by weak or strong forces in the interactions of the constituents. Morphogenesis results from the interplay of numerous gene products and the cellular organization and is always dependent upon pre-existent structures (Harold 1995).

The morphogenesis of the photosynthetic membrane in purple bacteria has been studied in its different steps. The regulation at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels in purple bacteria, and the structure and morphogenesis of the ICM have been described recently (Armstrong 1995; Bauer 1995; Biel 1995; Drews and Golecki 1995; Klug 1995).

In this mini-review, I will focus on the minimal requirements for the in vitro assembly of light-harvesting (LH) complex I (B870) from its constituents in detergent micelles and compare the results with observations on the complex process of targeting and import of LHI polypeptides into the membrane and assembly of B870.