Light-harvesting protein LHCB5 is one of the three minor antenna proteins (LHCB4-6) that connect the core (C) of photosystem II (PSII) with strongly (S) and moderately (M) bound peripheral trimeric antennae (LHCIIs), forming a dimeric PSII supercomplex known as C2S2M2. Plants lacking LHCB4 and LHCB6 do not form C2S2M2, indicating that these minor antenna proteins are crucial for C2S2M2 assembly. However, studies on antisense asLhcb5 plants suggest this may not apply to LHCB5. Using mild clear-native PAGE (CN-PAGE) and electron microscopy (EM), we separated and structurally characterized the C2S2M2 supercomplex from the Arabidopsis lhcb5 mutant. When compared with wild type (WT), the C2S2M2 supercomplexes in the lhcb5 mutant have slightly different positions of S and M trimers and are generally smaller and present in the thylakoid membrane at higher density. Using CN-PAGE, we did not observe any PSII megacomplexes in the lhcb5 mutant, although they are routinely detected by this method in WT. However, we identified the megacomplexes directly in thylakoid membranes via EM, indicating that the megacomplexes are formed but are too labile to be separated. While in WT, both parallel- and non-parallel-associated PSII supercomplexes can be detected in the thylakoid membrane (Nosek et al., 2017, Plant Journal 89, pp. 104-111), only the parallel-associated PSII supercomplexes were found in the lhcb5 mutant. This finding suggests that the formation of non-parallel-associated PSII supercomplexes depends on the presence of LHCB5. The presence of large PSII supercomplexes and megacomplexes, even though less stable, could explain the WT-like photosynthetic characteristics of the lhcb5 mutant.

• MeSH
• Arabidopsis * metabolism   genetics   MeSH
• Photosystem II Protein Complex * metabolism   genetics   MeSH
• Mutation MeSH
• Arabidopsis Proteins * metabolism   genetics   MeSH
• Chlorophyll Binding Proteins MeSH
• Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes * metabolism   genetics   MeSH
• Thylakoids * metabolism   ultrastructure   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Photosystem II Protein Complex * MeSH
• LHCB5 protein, Arabidopsis MeSH Browser
• Arabidopsis Proteins * MeSH
• Chlorophyll Binding Proteins MeSH
• Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes * MeSH

The acclimation of higher plants to different light intensities is associated with a reorganization of the photosynthetic apparatus. These modifications, namely, changes in the amount of peripheral antenna (LHCII) of photosystem (PS) II and changes in PSII/PSI stoichiometry, typically lead to an altered chlorophyll (Chl) a/b ratio. However, our previous studies show that in spruce, this ratio is not affected by changes in growth light intensity. The evolutionary loss of PSII antenna proteins LHCB3 and LHCB6 in the Pinaceae family is another indication that the light acclimation strategy in spruce could be different. Here we show that, unlike Arabidopsis, spruce does not modify its PSII/PSI ratio and PSII antenna size to maximize its photosynthetic performance during light acclimation. Its large PSII antenna consists of many weakly bound LHCIIs, which form effective quenching centers, even at relatively low light. This, together with sensitive photosynthetic control on the level of cytochrome b6f complex (protecting PSI), is the crucial photoprotective mechanism in spruce. High-light acclimation of spruce involves the disruption of PSII macro-organization, reduction of the amount of both PSII and PSI core complexes, synthesis of stress proteins that bind released Chls, and formation of "locked-in" quenching centers from uncoupled LHCIIs. Such response has been previously observed in the evergreen angiosperm Monstera deliciosa exposed to high light. We suggest that, in contrast to annuals, shade-tolerant evergreen land plants have their own strategy to cope with light intensity changes and the hallmark of this strategy is a stable Chl a/b ratio.

• Keywords
• Arabidopsis thaliana, LHCII antenna, Light acclimation, Non-photochemical quenching, Photoprotection, Photosynthetic control, Picea abies, Thylakoid membrane,
• MeSH
• Acclimatization MeSH
• Arabidopsis * metabolism   MeSH
• Chlorophyll A metabolism   MeSH
• Chlorophyll metabolism   MeSH
• Cytochromes b metabolism   MeSH
• Photosystem I Protein Complex metabolism   MeSH
• Photosystem II Protein Complex metabolism   MeSH
• Cytochrome b6f Complex metabolism   MeSH
• Heat-Shock Proteins metabolism   MeSH
• Picea * metabolism   MeSH
• Light MeSH
• Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes metabolism   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Chlorophyll A MeSH
• Chlorophyll MeSH
• Cytochromes b MeSH
• Photosystem I Protein Complex MeSH
• Photosystem II Protein Complex MeSH
• Cytochrome b6f Complex MeSH
• Heat-Shock Proteins MeSH
• Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes MeSH