The November issue of Structure features the research article by the SFB members Martin Bommer, Mohamed Ibrahim, Holger Dobbek, and Athina Zouni from project A5 and their co-workers on "Native-like Photosystem II Superstructure at 2.44 Å Resolution through Detergent Extraction from the Protein Crystal" (1). The article is openly accessible on the website of Structure, a Cell-Press journal publishing high-impact research in the field of structural biology.

In short, excellent structural models exist for the dimeric photosystem II core complex of cyanobacteria, but in native thylakoid membranes, photosystem II (PSII) exists in extended rows. Hellmich, Bommer, et al. "observe that such a superstructure was recreated inside a protein crystal by detergent extraction after crystallization. The alignment of light harvesting pigments across dimer boundaries suggests a role in distributing photon energy to multiple reaction centers." (2) In addition, Hellmich, Bommer, et al. provided a perspective on postcrystallization treatments of membrane protein crystals in general by demonstrating a transformation from type II to type I and a path to high-quality crystals of PSII in a native-like arrangement in particular (1).

References:

1. Hellmich, J., Bommer, M., Burkhardt, A., Ibrahim, M., Kern, J., Meents, A., Müh, F., Dobbek, H., and Zouni, A. (2014). Native-like Photosystem II Superstructure at 2.44 Å Resolution through Detergent Extraction from the Protein Crystal. Structure 22, 1607-1615 (doi: 10.1016/j.str.2014.09.007).
2. (2014). In This Issue. Structure 22, v-vi (doi: 10.1016/j.str.2014.10.005).