Oxyphotobacteria - Antenna ring around photosystem I

The oceanic picoplankton Prochlorococcus — probably the most abundant photosynthetic organism on our planet1,2 — can grow at great depths where light intensity is very low3. We have found that the chlorophyll-binding proteins in a deep-living strain of this oxyphotobacterium form a ring around a trimer of the photosystem I (PS I) photosynthetic reaction centre, a clever arrangement that maximizes the capture of light energy in such dim conditions. To Main Text

Authors: T. S. Bibby*, J. Nield*, F. Partensky†, J. Barber*
*Wolfson Laboratories, Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London SW7 2AY, UK; e-mail: j.barber@ic.ac.uk
†Observatoire Océanologique de Roscoff, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Université Paris 6, Station Biologique, BP74, F-29682 Roscoff Cedex, France