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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

In Vitro Reconstitution of Light-harvesting Complexes of Plants and Green Algae
Published on: October 10, 2014
Isolation and crystallization of CP47, a Photosystem II chlorophyll binding protein. Degradation of CP47 upon
E Psylinakis1, G Fritzsch, D F Ghanotakis
1Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, 71409, Heraklion, Crete, Greece, ghanotakis@chemistry.uoc.gr.
Abstract:
The CP47 protein was isolated from Photosystem II membranes by using a combination of the detergents n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside and octyl-beta-D-thioglucoside. The purified CP47 was used in a series of crystallization experiments, which yielded highly reproducible hexagonal crystals. Immunoblot analysis revealed that the isolated CP47 undergoes degradation even under dim light conditions. This degradation takes place after the protein has been dissociated from the core complex. Proteolysis experiments with trypsin demonstrated that the dissociation of the CP47 from the PS II core complex results in changes that render the protein sensitive to proteolysis.
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