At the heart of photosynthesis, photosystems I and II hold a special place, not just in plant biology, but also as the source of oxygen for all aerobic life. Therefore, researchers were not surprised when two papers, describing the detailed, three-dimensional crystal structure of the photoreaction centers of the thermophilic cyanobacterium, Synechococcus elongatus, received high acclaim.1,2
A single Berlin group published both structures within five months. "These structures represent a major leap forward in photosynthesis research, and for one team to produce two such structures in quick succession caused a huge stir in the field," says Mike Jones, Bristol University, UK, who specializes in bacterial reaction centers.
The team from Freie Unversitat and Technische Unversitat exploited the same X-ray crystallography advances to produce sufficiently stable crystals of the two photocenters, particularly photosystem I (PSI), for high-resolution diffraction. While the photosystem II (PSII) resolution is slightly lower, the molecule's significance as ...
