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The atypical chlorophyll a/b/c light-harvesting complex of Mantoniella squamata: molecular cloning and sequence analysis

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Abstract

cDNA species encoding precursor polypeptides of the chlorophyll a/b/c light-harvesting complex (LHC) of Mantoniella squamata were cloned and sequenced. The precursor polypeptides have molecular weights of 24.2 kDa and are related to the major chlorophyll a/b polypeptides of higher plants. Southern analysis showed that their genes belong to the nuclear encoded Lhc multigene family; the investigated genes most probably do not contain introns. The chlorophyll a/b/c polypeptides contain two highly conserved regions common to all LHC polypeptides and three hydrophobic α-helices, which span the thylakoid membrane. The first membrane-spanning helix, however, is not detected by predictive methods: its atypical hydrophilic domains may bind the chlorophyll c molecules within the hydrophobic membrane environment. Homology to LHC 11 of higher plants and green algae is specifically evident in the C-terminal region comprising helix III and the preceding stroma-exposed domain. The N-terminal region of 29 amino acids resembles the structure of a transit sequence, which shows only minor similarities to those of LHC II sequences. Strikingly, the mature light-harvesting polypeptides of M. squamata lack an N-terminal domain of 30 amino acids, which, in higher plants, contains the phosphorylation site of LHC 11 and simultaneously mediates membrane stacking. Therefore, the chlorophyll a/b/c polypeptides of M. squamata do not exhibit any light-dependent preference for photosystem I or 11. The lack of this domain also indicates that the attractive forces between stacked thylakoids are weak.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fachbereich Biologie-Botanik, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Karl-von-Frisch-Str., D-35032, Marburg, Germany

    Erhard Rhiel & Erhard Mörschel

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  1. Erhard Rhiel
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  2. Erhard Mörschel
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Communicated by R.G. Herrmann

This study is dedicated to Prof. Dr. W Rüdiger on the occasion of his 60th birthday

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Rhiel, E., Mörschel, E. The atypical chlorophyll a/b/c light-harvesting complex of Mantoniella squamata: molecular cloning and sequence analysis. Molec. Gen. Genet. 240, 403–413 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00280392

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00280392

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