Natural photosynthesis requires diffusion-based processes either for the functional communication of protein complexes or for the adaptation, maintenance and biogenesis of the photosynthetic apparatus. A conceptual problem with lateral diffusion in photosynthetic membranes arises from the fact that these membranes are densely packed with membrane integral protein complexes (molecular crowding). Theoretical analysis of PQ (plastoquinone) and protein diffusion in higher plant grana thylakoids reveal very inefficient lateral diffusion. In contrast, measurement of protein mobility in grana membranes shows that a fraction of protein complexes can move surprisingly fast. It is postulated that organization of protein complexes in supercomplexes and large-scale ordering of Photosystem II and light-harvesting complex II could be strategies for the optimization of diffusion in crowded thylakoid membranes.
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October 2008
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Conference Article|
September 19 2008
Significance of protein crowding, order and mobility for photosynthetic membrane functions
Helmut Kirchhoff
Helmut Kirchhoff
1
1Institute of Botany, Westfaelische-Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Schlossgarten 3, 48149 Münster, Germany
1email [email protected]
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
June 16 2008
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2008 Biochemical Society
2008
Biochem Soc Trans (2008) 36 (5): 967–970.
Article history
Received:
June 16 2008
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Helmut Kirchhoff; Significance of protein crowding, order and mobility for photosynthetic membrane functions. Biochem Soc Trans 1 October 2008; 36 (5): 967–970. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST0360967
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