Formation of the light-harvesting complex I (B870) of anoxygenic phototrophic purple bacteria

The light-harvesting (LH) complex I (B870) of anoxygenic photosynthetic purple bacteria is the oligomeric form of its subunit B820 consisting of the low-melecular-weight polypeptides alpha, beta, bacteriochlorophyll (BChl), and carotenoids in the stoichiometric ratio [alpha(1) beta(1) (BChl(2)) Crt(1-2)](n) LHI surrounds the photochemical reaction center (RC). The major absorption band of the LHI complex is species-specific and is found at 870-890 nm; those of the subunit and the monomeric BChl a (dissolved in methanol) absorb at 820 and 770 nm, respectively. The isolated LHI complex can be reversibly dissociated to the B820 subunit or to the polypeptides and pigments by addition of detergents. Reconstitution of the B820 or the functional B870 complex is still possible after partial truncation of the N-or C-terminal regions of the alpha- or beta-polypeptide or of the beta-polypeptide only. The minimal structural requirements for reconstitution of a spectrally wild-type form after truncation of the polypeptides and/or modifications of the BChl molecule are described. The insertion of the LHI alpha- and LHI beta-polypeptides into the membrane and the in vivo assembly of LHI, studied in a cell-free system and in whole cells of Rhodobacter capsulatus, depend on the primary structures of both polypeptides, BChl, the chaperones DnaK and GroEL, membrane-bound proteins, and energized membranes. Exchanges, deletions, or insertions of amino acyl residues, especially in the conserved region of the N-terminus of the LHI alpha-polypeptide, prevent or reduce the efficiency and stability of the LHI assembly. Therefore, reconstitution of LHI in a detergent micelle does not exactly reproduce the formation of the LHI complex in the photosynthetic membrane in vivo. The N-terminal domains play a crucial role in the formation of the oligomeric protein scaffold and of the pigment array.