The Structural and Spectral Features of Light-Harvesting Complex II Proteoliposomes Mimic Those of Native Thylakoid Membranes

The major photosystem II light-harvesting antenna (LHCII) is the most abundant membrane protein in nature and plays an indispensable role in light harvesting and photoprotection in the plant thylakoid. Here, we show that "pseudothylakoid characteristics" can be observed in artificial LHCII membranes. In our proteoliposomal system, at high LHCII densities, the liposomes become stacked, mimicking the in vivo thylakoid grana membranes. Furthermore, an unexpected, unstructured emission peak at similar to 730 nm appears, similar in appearance to photosystem I emission, but with a clear excimeric character that has never been previously reported. These states correlate with the increasing density of LHCII in the membrane and a decrease in its average fluorescence lifetime. The appearance of these low-energy states can also occur in natural plant membrane structures, which has unique consequences for the interpretation of the spectroscopic and physiological properties of the photosynthetic membrane.