Supramolecular organization of phycobiliproteins in the chlorophyll d-containing cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina

Here we report the high-resolution detail of the organization of phycobiliprotein structures associated with photosynthetic membranes of the chlorophyll d-containing cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina. Cryo-electron transmission-microscopy on native cell sections show extensive patches of near-crystalline phycobiliprotein rods that are associated with the stromal side of photosynthetic membranes. This supramolecular photosynthetic structure represents a novel mechanism of organizing the photosynthetic light-harvesting machinery. In addition, the specific location of phycobiliprotein patches suggests a physical separation of photosystem I and photosystem II reaction centres. Based on this finding and the known photosystem's structure in Acaryochloris, we discuss possible membrane arrangements of photosynthetic membrane complexes in this species.