New images of phycobilisomes help understand photosynthesis

Nature has developed structures to harness the sun's energy through photosynthesis. But these sunlight receptors don't belong to plants. They are found in microbes known as cyanobacteria. They are the evolutionary descendants of the first organisms on Earth capable of taking sunlight, water and carbon dioxide and transforming them into sugars and oxygen.

The structures responsible for energy capture in cyanobacteria are called phycobilisomes. These are complexes that collect light energy.

For decades, researchers have worked to visualize the different building blocks of phycobilisomes to try to understand how they come together. Now, its structure is available at near-atomic resolution. The team included researchers from MSU, Berkeley Lab, the University of California, Berkeley and the University of South Bohemia in the Czech Republic.

Thus, more is known about microbial photosynthesis. Especially regarding how light energy is captured and sent to where it is needed to power the conversion of carbon dioxide into sugars.

These findings could theoretically aid in the control of harmful bacteria and the development of artificial photosynthetic systems for renewable energy.

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