Stephen Hippleheuser

In all photosynthetic reaction centers (RC), transmembrane electron-transfer (ET) cofactor pathways are coordinated by homologous peptides and arranged with approximate C ₂ symmetry, providing two possible paths for charge separation (designated A and B). In type II RCs—Photosystem II and the purple bacterial RCs—only the A branch is active for ET. A variant bacterial RC containing nine amino acid substitutions that result in high-yield ET along the normally nonfunctional B branch was designed. Structural and theoretical studies were combined to understand factors that control unique ET reactions in the complex. Serial femtosecond crystallography performed at an X-ray Free Electron Laser afforded the room temperature X-ray-damage-free crystal structure of the variant RC, revealing interactions between the substituted amino acids and the ET cofactors. The positions of the bacteriochlorin cofactors on the symmetry-related pathways are unaffected, underscoring that the substitutions alter the energetics of ET, leading to the functional changes. In the binding pockets for the terminal electron acceptor quinones, alterations in the positions of neighboring amino acids and water molecules are coordinated with the change of the substituted side chains. Modifications deactivated A-branch ET and activated transmembrane charge separation along the B branch. Electrostatic calculations based on the structure reveal how differences in stabilization of charge-separated states by the protein environment underlie the change in direction of electron flow in this variant RC and provide insights into mechanisms by which B-branch charge separation across the photosynthetic membrane can be achieved in high yield.