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Updated: May 30, 2026

In Vitro Reconstitution of Light-harvesting Complexes of Plants and Green Algae
Published on: October 10, 2014
The extrinsic proteins of Photosystem II
Terry M Bricker1, Johnna L Roose, Robert D Fagerlund
1Department of Biological Sciences, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Section, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA. btbric@lsu.edu
Abstract:
In this review we examine the structure and function of the extrinsic proteins of Photosystem II. These proteins include PsbO, present in all oxygenic organisms, the PsbP and PsbQ proteins, which are found in higher plants and eukaryotic algae, and the PsbU, PsbV, CyanoQ, and CyanoP proteins, which are found in the cyanobacteria. These proteins serve to optimize oxygen evolution at physiological calcium and chloride concentrations. They also shield the Mn(4)CaO(5) cluster from exogenous reductants. Numerous biochemical, genetic and structural studies have been used to probe the structure and function of these proteins within the photosystem. We will discuss the most recent proposed functional roles for these components, their structures (as deduced from biochemical and X-ray crystallographic studies) and the locations of their proposed binding domains within the Photosystem II complex. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Photosystem II.
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