Abstract
Prior to the 1960s, the model for the molecular structure of cell membranes consisted of a lipid bilayer held in place by a thin film of electrostatically-associated protein stretched over the bilayer surface: (the Danielli–Davson–Robertson “unit membrane” model). Andrew Benson, an expert in the lipids of chloroplast thylakoid membranes, questioned the relevance of the unit membrane model for biological membranes, especially for thylakoid membranes, instead of emphasizing evidence in favour of hydrophobic interactions of membrane lipids within complementary hydrophobic regions of membrane-spanning proteins. With Elliot Weier, Benson postulated a remarkable subunit lipoprotein monolayer model for thylakoids. Following the advent of freeze fracture microscopy and the fluid lipid-protein mosaic model by Singer and Nicolson, the subunits, membrane-spanning integral proteins, span a dynamic lipid bilayer. Now that high resolution X-ray structures of photosystems I and II are being revealed, the seminal contribution of Andrew Benson can be appreciated.
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Acknowledgements
This article is dedicated to the incomparable Andy Benson, who always proposed novel concepts, willingly and non-competively shared ideas, and is unfailingly enthusiastic about the wonders of science. I am grateful to Drs Robert Porra and Keith Boardman for constructive comments on the manuscript.
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Anderson, J.M. Thylakoid membrane landscape in the sixties: a tribute to Andrew Benson. Photosynth Res 92, 193–197 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-007-9159-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-007-9159-z