Employees of the Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, together with the K.A. Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology, Moscow State University, and the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute," have deciphered the three-dimensional structure of one of the most complex light-harvesting complexes — the phycobilisomes of Gloeobacter violaceus. This protein structure remained a mystery for almost 50 years after its discovery.
According to Yuri Slonimsky, a researcher at the Laboratory of Protein-Protein Interactions at the Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the cyanobacteria culture grows extremely slowly and requires special care. "The isolated and purified phycobilisomes are extremely fragile and lose their properties within a few days. It took us a year and a half of attempts to obtain high-quality samples for research," the scientist noted.
Phycobilisomes are protein "antennas" that absorb light and transport its energy within the microorganism. Researchers have studied in detail the energy transfer pathway in G. violaceus phycobilisomes and identified the features of its regulation under the action of photoactive carotenoid-binding proteins. These data allow us to understand how ancient microorganisms effectively used sunlight for photosynthesis, and also provide a key to creating bio-inspired technologies for efficient solar energy collection.
Deciphering the structure of phycobilisomes not only allows us to better understand the evolution of photosynthetic mechanisms on Earth, but also opens up prospects for bioengineering.