Progress towards structural elucidation of photosystem II

Abstract

In recent years Photosystem II, and in particular the oxygen evolving component of the enzyme, have been the subject of intense biochemical and biophysical analysis. To date no high resolution structural model of the complex has been produced. As a consequence unambiguous interpretation of much experimental data has proven difficult, leading to a lack of consensus over many basic questions regarding the mechanisms involved, the oligomerization state of the enzyme in vivo and even the exact biochemical composition. This review is a summary of the progress towards the production of a structural model of PS II - derived from either X-ray crystallography or electron microscopy based techniques - and the current opinions, which have arisen from these structural analyses, on the structural topology and assemblage of the various subunits that constitute the complex.