In vitro synthesis of the light-harvesting complex into artificial membrane systems [Elektronische Ressource] / Shaohua Ding

In Vitro Synthesis of the Light-Harvesting Complex into Artificial Membrane Systems Dissertation Zur Erlangung des Grades Doktor der Naturwissenschaften Am Fachbereich Biologie Der Johannes Gutenburg-Universität Mainz Shaohua Ding Geb. am 23. August 1982 in V. R. China Mainz, 2010 Dekan: 1. Berichterstatter: 2. Berichterstatter: Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 17. Dezember 2010 Abstract -Zusammenfassung In green plants, the function of collecting solar energy for photosynthesis is fulfilled by a series of light-harvesting complexes (LHC). The light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein (LHCP) is synthesized in the cytosol as a precursor (pLHCP), then imported into chloroplasts and assembled into photosynthetic thylakoid membranes. Knowledge about the regulation of the transport processes of LHCP is rather limited. Closely mimicking the in vivo situation, cell-free protein expression system is employed in this dissertation to study the reconstitution of LHCP into artificial membranes. The approach starts merely from the genetic information of the protein, so the difficult and time-consuming procedures of protein expression and purification can be avoided.