Insertion of light‐harvesting chlorophyll a / b protein into the thylakoid

The major light‐harvesting chlorophyll a / b ‐binding protein (Lhcb1,2) of photosystem II is inserted into the thylakoid via the signal recognition particle dependent pathway. However, the mechanism by which the protein enters the membrane is at this time unknown. In order to define some topographical restrictions for this process, we constructed several recombinant derivatives of Lhcb1 carrying hexahistidine tags at either protein terminus or in the stromal loop domain. Additionally, green fluorescent protein (GFP) was fused to either terminus. None of the modifications significantly impair the pigment‐binding properties of the protein in the in vitro reconstitution of LHCII. With the exception of the C‐terminal GFP fusion, all mutants stably insert into isolated thylakoids in the absence of Ni 2+ ions. The addition of low concentrations of Ni 2+ ions abolishes the thylakoid insertion of C‐terminally His‐tagged mutants whereas the other His‐tagged proteins fail to insert only at higher Ni 2+ concentrations. The C‐terminus of Lhcb1 must cross the membrane during protein insertion whereas the other sites of Lhcb1 modification are positioned on the stromal side of LHCII. We conclude that a Ni 2+ ‐complexed His tag and fusion to GFP inhibit translocation of the protein C‐terminus across the thylakoid. Our observations indicate that the N‐terminal and stromal domain of Lhcb1 need not traverse the thylakoid during protein insertion and are consistent with a loop mechanism in which only the C‐terminus and the lumenal loop of Lhcb1 are translocated across the thylakoid.