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Chlorosome antenna complexes from green photosynthetic bacteria

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Abstract

Chlorosomes are the distinguishing light-harvesting antenna complexes that are found in green photosynthetic bacteria. They contain bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) c, d, e in natural organisms, and recently through mutation, BChl f, as their principal light-harvesting pigments. In chlorosomes, these pigments self-assemble into large supramolecular structures that are enclosed inside a lipid monolayer to form an ellipsoid. The pigment assembly is dictated mostly by pigment–pigment interactions as opposed to protein–pigment interactions. On the bottom face of the chlorosome, the CsmA protein aggregates into a paracrystalline baseplate with BChl a, and serves as the interface to the next energy acceptor in the system. The exceptional light-harvesting ability at very low light conditions of chlorosomes has made them an attractive subject of study for both basic and applied science. This review, incorporating recent advancements, considers several important aspects of chlorosomes: pigment biosynthesis, organization of pigments and proteins, spectroscopic properties, and applications to bio-hybrid and bio-inspired devices.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the following for helpful discussions: Dr. Dariusz M. Niedzweidzki (Washington University in St. Louis), Dr. Jakub Pšenčík (Charles University), Dr. Donald A. Bryant (The Pennsylvania State University), Dr. Sándor Á. Kovács (Washington University in St. Louis), Dr. Cynthia Lo (Washington University in St. Louis), and Mr. Vivek Shah (Washington University in St. Louis). This work has been supported by the Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under award DE-SC0001035. Research described on the FMO protein has been supported by DOE grant DE-FG02-10ER15902 to R.E.B.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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  1. Departments of Chemistry and Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, Campus Box 1137, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA

    Gregory S. Orf & Robert E. Blankenship

  2. Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center (PARC), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA

    Gregory S. Orf & Robert E. Blankenship

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  1. Gregory S. Orf
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Correspondence to Robert E. Blankenship.

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Orf, G.S., Blankenship, R.E. Chlorosome antenna complexes from green photosynthetic bacteria. Photosynth Res 116, 315–331 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-013-9869-3

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