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Engineering model proteins for Photosystem II function

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Abstract

Our knowledge of Photosystem II and the molecular mechanism of oxygen production are rapidly advancing. The time is now ripe to exploit this knowledge and use it as a blueprint for the development of light-driven catalysts, ultimately for the splitting of water into O2 and H2. In this article, we outline the background and our approach to this technological application through the reverse engineering of Photosystem II into model proteins.

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Abbreviations

BChl:

Bacteriochlorophyll

BRC:

Bacterial reaction center

BFR:

Bacterioferritin

Chl:

Chlorophyll

CoQ0 :

Coenzyme Q without the hydrophobic tail

Cyt:

Cytochrome

Em:

Midpoint redox potential

H-bond:

Hydrogen bond

LH(C):

Light harvesting (complex)

M4 :

Tetranuclear manganese/calcium cluster

P:

Reaction center chlorophyll complex

PSII(I):

Photosystem II (I)

Q:

Quinone

Rubisco:

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase

Y:

Redox-active tyrosine

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Les Dutton and Wolfgang Lubitz for their encouragement and support throughout the development of this project. Financial assistance was provided by a grant from the Australian Research Council (ARC DP0450421).

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  1. Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia

    Tom Wydrzynski, Warwick Hillier & Brendon Conlan

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  1. Tom Wydrzynski
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  2. Warwick Hillier
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  3. Brendon Conlan
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Correspondence to Tom Wydrzynski.

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Wydrzynski, T., Hillier, W. & Conlan, B. Engineering model proteins for Photosystem II function. Photosynth Res 94, 225–233 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-007-9271-0

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