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The heart of photosynthesis in glorious 3D
1Service de Bioénergétique, CNRS URA 2096, CEA Saclay, F-91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France. rutherford@dsvid.cea.fr
Trends in Biochemical Sciences
|June 19, 2001
Abstract:
The input of solar energy into photosynthesis, and thence into the biosphere, occurs via chlorophyll-containing proteins known as reaction centres. There are two kinds of reaction centre in oxygenic photosynthesis: photosystem I (PSI) and photosystem II (PSII). The PSII reaction centre, alias the oxygen-evolving enzyme, the water-oxidizing complex or the water-plastoquinone photo-oxidoreductase, has now been crystallized and its structure solved to a resolution of 3.8 A.