Abstract
Photosystem II (PS II) is one of two reaction centers found in the photosynthetic membranes of eukaryotic cells. PS II converts solar to chemical energy and can split water, giving off H+ and O2. Neither bacterial reaction centers nor PS I can evolve O2, making PS II unique. Oxygen evolution involves three polypeptides (17, 24 and 33 kDa) that are exposed on the inner surface of the membrane. The remainder of PS II consists of intrinsic membrane proteins with molecular masses of 47, 43, 34, 33 and 10 kDa and multiple low molecular mass polypeptides (for review, see Hansson and Wydrzynski, 1990). In order to obtain structural information regarding PS II, and particularly the oxygen evolving-polypeptides (OEPs), we have induced the complexes to form two-dimensional crystals. The crystals are formed by sequential treatment of whole membranes with low concentrations of Triton X-100. The two-dimensional crystals are tubular, with the complexes arranged in a helical manner around the tube (Fig. 1). The tubes are being characterized by gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting, using antibodies directed against the OEPs.
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