Crystal structures of photosystem II from a cyanobacterium expressing psbA in comparison to psbA reveal differences in the D1 subunit.

Three psbA genes (psbA, psbA, and psbA) encoding the D1 subunit of photosystem II (PSII) are present in the thermophilic cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus and are expressed differently in response to changes in the growth environment. To clarify the functional differences of the D1 protein expressed from these psbA genes, PSII dimers from two strains, each expressing only one psbA gene (psbA or psbA), were crystallized, and we analyzed their structures at resolutions comparable to previously studied PsbA1-PSII. Our results showed that the hydrogen bond between pheophytin/D1 (Pheo) and D1-130 became stronger in PsbA2- and PsbA3-PSII due to change of Gln to Glu, which partially explains the increase in the redox potential of Pheo observed in PsbA3.