Progress in the Crystallization of Photosystem II Components

The biochemical processes involved in photosynthetic electron transfer are being studied at increasingly higher detail. Structural information on the atomic and molecular level are needed in order to elucidate biochemical reaction mechanisms. Determination of the three dimensional structures of proteins and protein complexes has become essential for any meaningful discussion on the photosynthetic reactions (1–3). Since most of the protein complexes found in photosynthetic systems are larger than can be dealt with by NMR techniques, crystallographic techniques must be utilized In most cases obtaining high quality crystals remains the most problematic step.