The molecular structure of the IsiA–Photosystem I supercomplex, modelled from high-resolution, crystal structures of Photosystem I and the CP43 protein

We present the molecular structure of the IsiA–Photosystem I (PSI) supercomplex, inferred from high-resolution, crystal structures of PSI and the CP43 protein. The structure of iron-stress-induced A protein (IsiA) is similar to that of CP43, albeit with the difference that IsiA is associated with 15 chlorophylls (Chls), one more than previously assumed. The membrane-spanning helices of IsiA contain hydrophilic residues many of which bind Chl. The optimal structure of the IsiA–PSI supercomplex was inferred by systematically rearranging the IsiA monomers and PSI trimer in relation to each other. For each of the 6,969,600 structural configurations considered, we counted the number of optimal Chl–Chl connections (i.e., cases where Chl-bound Mg atoms are ≤ 25 Å apart). Fifty of these configurations were found to have optimal energy-transfer potential. The 50 configurations could be divided into three variants; one of these, comprising 36 similar configurations, was found to be superior to the other configurations in terms of its potential to transfer excitation energy to the reaction centres under low-light conditions and its potential to dissipate excess energy under high-light conditions. Compared to the assumed model [Biochemistry 42 (2003) 3180–3188], the new Chl increases by 7% the ability of IsiA to harvest sunlight while the rearrangement of the constituent components of the IsiA–PSI supercomplex increases by 228% the energy-transfer potential. In conclusion, our model allows us to explain how the IsiA–PSI supercomplex may act as an efficient light-harvesting structure under low-light conditions and as an efficient dissipater of excess energy under high-light conditions.