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Globulins are an important group of seed storage proteins in dicotyledonous plants. They are synthesized during seed development, assembled into very compact protein complexes, and finally stored in protein storage vacuoles (PSVs). Here, we report a proteomic investigation on the native composition and structure of cruciferin, the 12 S globulin of Brassica napus. PSVs were directly purified from mature seeds by differential centrifugations. Upon analyses by blue native (BN) PAGE, two major types of cruciferin complexes of ∼ 300–390 kDa and of ∼470 kDa are resolved. Analyses by two-dimensional BN/SDS-PAGE revealed that both types of complexes are composed of several copies of the cruciferin α and β polypeptide chains, which are present in various isoforms. Protein analyses by two-dimensional isoelectric focusing (IEF)/SDS-PAGE not only revealed different α and β isoforms but also several further versions of the two polypeptide chains that most likely differ with respect to posttranslational modifications. Overall, more than 30 distinct forms of cruciferin were identified by mass spectrometry. To obtain insights into the structure of the cruciferin holocomplex, a native PSV fraction was analyzed by single particle electron microscopy. More than 20,000 images were collected, classified, and used for the calculation of detailed projection maps of the complex. In contrast to previous reports on globulin structure in other plant species, the cruciferin complex of Brassica napus has an octameric barrel-like structure, which represents a very compact building block optimized for maximal storage of amino acids within minimal space. Background: Cruciferin represents the most abundant protein in Brassica napus seeds where its efficient storage is essential under minimized space conditions. Results: The cruciferin complex has an octameric barrel-like structure of ∼420 kDa. Conclusion: The barrel-like structure represents a compact building block optimized for maximal storage of amino acids. Significance: Novel insights into structure and packing of seed storage proteins.

In this work, Photosystem I supercomplexes have been purified from Lhca-deficient lines of Arabidopsis thaliana using a mild detergent treatment that does not induce loss of outer antennas. The complexes have been studied by integrating biochemical analysis with electron microscopy. This allows the direct correlation of changes in protein content with changes in supramolecular structure of Photosystem I to get information about the position of the individual Lhca subunits, the association of the antenna to the core, and the influence of the individual subunits on the stability of the system. Photosystem I complexes with only two or three antenna complexes were purified, showing that the binding of Lhca1/4 and Lhca2/3 dimers to the core is not interdependent, although weak binding of Lhca2/3 to the core is stabilized by the presence of Lhca4. Moreover, Lhca2 and Lhca4 can be associated with the core in the absence of their “dimeric partners.” The structure of Photosystem I is very rigid, and the absence of one antenna complex leaves a “hole” in the structure that cannot be filled by other Lhcas, clearly indicating that the docking sites for the individual subunits are highly specific. There is, however, an exception to the rule: Lhca5 can substitute for Lhca4, yielding highly stable PSI supercomplexes with a supramolecular organization identical to the WT.

The protein complexes of the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation system were recently reported to form supramolecular assemblies termed respiratory supercomplexes or respirasomes. These supercomplexes are considered to be of great functional importance. Here we review new insights into supercomplex structure and physiology.

The structural organization of proteins in biological membranes can affect their function. Photosynthetic thylakoid membranes in chloroplasts have the remarkable ability to change their supramolecular organization between disordered and semicrystalline states. Although the change to the semicrystalline state is known to be triggered by abiotic factors, the functional significance of this protein organization has not yet been understood. Taking advantage of an Arabidopsis thaliana fatty acid desaturase mutant (fad5) that constitutively forms semicrystalline arrays, we systematically test the functional implications of protein crystals in photosynthetic membranes. Here we show that the change into an ordered state facilitates molecular diffusion of photosynthetic components in crowded thylakoid membranes. The increased mobility of small lipophilic molecules like plastoquinone and xanthophylls has implications for diffusion-dependent electron transport and photoprotective energy-dependent quenching. The mobility of the large photosystem II supercomplexes, on the other hand, is impaired, leading to retarded repair of damaged proteins. Our results demonstrate that supramolecular changes into more ordered states have differing impacts on photosynthesis that favor either diffusion-dependent electron transport and photoprotection or protein repair processes, thus fine-tuning the photosynthetic energy conversion.

An isolation procedure was developed for the cyanobacterium Synechocystis 6803 (and 6714) which yields both monomeric and trimeric photosystem I complexes (P700.FA/FB complexes) depleted of the stroma-exposed subunits PsaC, -D, and -E (P700.FX complexes). Analysis by high resolution gel electrophoresis in combination with immunoblotting and N-terminal sequencing reveals the selective and quantitative removal of PsaC, -D, and -E from the P700.FA/FB complex, containing PsaA, -B, -C, -D, -E, -F, -K, -L and at least two subunits < or = 4 kDa. Monomeric and trimeric P700.FX complexes show an identical subunit composition and an identical charge recombination half-time of 750 +/- 250 microseconds as determined by flash-induced absorption change measurements, reflecting the quantitative loss of iron-sulfur clusters FA/FB and the presence of cluster FX. The existence of a stable trimeric P700.FX complex enables a detailed structural analysis by electron microscopy with high resolution. Comparison of averaged top and side view projections of P700.FX and P700.FA/FB complexes show that the height of the complex is reduced by about 2.5-3.3 nm upon removal of the three stroma-exposed subunits and indicate the position of these three subunits on the PS I surface. While the outer contours of the stroma exposed mass of PS I agree very well with the three-dimensional crystal analysis recently published for trimeric PS I of Synechococcus elongatus (Krauss, N., Hinrichs, W., Witt, I., Fromme, P., Pritzkow, W., Dauter, Z., Betzel, C., Wilson, K. S., Witt, H. T., and Saenger, W. (1993) Nature 361, 326-330), only the structural analysis presented here is able to assign the stroma-exposed mass exclusively to the subunits PsaC, -D, and -E and to exclude a contribution of other subunits.