A LHCB9-dependent photosystem I megacomplex induced under low light in Physcomitrella patens

Nat Plants. 2018 Nov;4(11):910-919. doi: 10.1038/s41477-018-0270-2. Epub 2018 Oct 29.

Abstract

Photosystem I of the moss Physcomitrella patens has special properties, including the capacity to undergo non-photochemical fluorescence quenching. We studied the organization of photosystem I under different light and carbon supply conditions in wild-type moss and in moss with the lhcb9 (light-harvesting complex) knockout genotype, which lacks an antenna protein endowed with red-shifted absorption forms. Wild-type moss, when grown on sugars and in low light, accumulated LHCB9 proteins and a large form of the photosystem I supercomplex, which, besides the canonical four LHCI subunits, included a LHCII trimer and four additional LHC monomers. The lhcb9 knockout produced an angiosperm-like photosystem I supercomplex with four LHCI subunits irrespective of the growth conditions. Growth in the presence of sublethal concentrations of electron transport inhibitors that caused oxidation or reduction of the plastoquinone pool prevented or promoted, respectively, the accumulation of LHCB9 and the formation of the photosystem I megacomplex. We suggest that LHCB9 is a key subunit regulating the antenna size of photosystem I and the ability to avoid the over-reduction of plastoquinone: this condition is potentially dangerous in the shaded and sunfleck-rich environment typical of mosses, whose plastoquinone pool is reduced by both photosystem II and the oxidation of sugar substrates.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bryopsida / metabolism*
  • Bryopsida / radiation effects
  • Light
  • Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes / metabolism*
  • Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes / radiation effects
  • Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes / ultrastructure
  • Microscopy, Electron
  • Photosystem I Protein Complex / metabolism*
  • Photosystem I Protein Complex / radiation effects
  • Photosystem I Protein Complex / ultrastructure
  • Photosystem II Protein Complex / metabolism
  • Proteomics
  • Thylakoids / metabolism

Substances

  • Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes
  • Photosystem I Protein Complex
  • Photosystem II Protein Complex