Summary
Biochemical and biophysical studies revealed that for functional reasons the light-harvesting antenna of photosynthetic bacteria represent a highly organized pigment-polypeptide system. It is comprised of an aggregate of antenna complexes which in turn consist of specific arrays of polypeptides or pigments. This particular organization is the basis for the very effective heterogeneous energy transfer within and between these complexes (Zuber, 1965). Green photosynthetic bacteria which are able to survive under extremely low light intensity contain an extended heterogeneous energy-transfer system to the reaction center including the intramembrane antenna complexes close to the reaction center, the extramembrane antenna complexes within the chlorosomes at the surface of the membrane and a BChl a-protein complex (B790) located between the chlorosome and the intramembrane complexes. The most detailed biochemical analysis and characterization of antenna complexes was performed for Chloroflexus aurantiacus, particularly by Feick and Fuller (1964). They also identified 5 polypeptides, one antenna polypeptide of the intramembrane antenna complex, and 2 antenna polypeptides, the BChl c-binding polypeptide, the 5.8-kDa “base-plate” protein (B790) and two 11- and 16-kDa polypeptides.
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References
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© 1988 Plenum Press, New York
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Zuber, H. (1988). Structural Studies on the Antenna Complexes and Polypeptides of Chloroflexus Aurantiacus and Other Green Photosynthetic Bacteria. In: Olson, J.M., Ormerod, J.G., Amesz, J., Stackebrandt, E., Trüper, H.G. (eds) Green Photosynthetic Bacteria. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1021-1_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1021-1_7
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