Membrane assembly and organisation

Chlorophyll protein complexes are embedded in lamellar, tubular or spherical photosynthetic thylakoid membranes, which increase the surface area for harvesting, trapping and storing solar energy. The thylakoid membrane is the site for the initial steps of photosynthesis that convert solar energy into chemical energy, ultimately powering almost all life on earth. The heterogeneous distribution of protein complexes within the membrane gives rise to an intricate three-dimensional structure that is nonetheless extremely dynamic on a timescale of seconds to minutes. These dynamics form the basis for the regulation of photosynthesis, and therefore the adaptability of plants, algae and cyanobacteria to different environments. We use a multi-faceted approach that includes atomic force, electron and fluorescence microscopies in combination with biochemistry and spectroscopy to probe these organisational details and understand their functional relevance.

Atomic-level structural models of whole membrane assemblies have been constructed by collaborators Klaus Schulten and Melih Sener at the Beckman Institute, Illinois, USA, using a combination of crystallographic, AFM and electron microscopy data allied to petascale computational modelling