The major light-harvesting complex of photosystem II (LHC-II) serves as the principal solar energy collector in the photosynthesis of green plants. In cooperation with a research team headed by Prof. Kuang Tingyun from the CAS Institute of Botany, a research group led by Prof. Chang Wenri of the CAS Institute of Biophysics has succeeded in determining the crystal structure of the complex, from spinach, by revealing the first X-ray structure of LHC-II in icosahedral proteoliposome assembly at atomic detail. Their paper was published as research highlight on the March 18 issue of
Nature. The work, a breakthrough in the studies into photosynthesis, is a major achievement of the ongoing national Knowledge Innovation Program (KIP) spearheaded by CAS. It has also been jointly funded the National Basic Research Priority Program, the National High-tech Research and Development Program and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
