The complex architecture of oxygenic photosynthesis

Abstract

Oxygenic photosynthesis is the principal producer of both oxygen and organic matter on earth. The primary step in this process - the conversion of sunlight into chemical energy - is driven by four, multisubunit, membrane-protein complexes that are known as photosystem I, photosystem II, cytochrome b(6)f and F-ATPase. Structural insights into these complexes are now providing a framework for the exploration not only of energy and electron transfer, but also of the evolutionary forces that shaped the photosynthetic apparatus.