Crystal structure of an integral membrane light-harvesting complex from photosynthetic bacteria

The crystal structure of the light-harvesting antenna complex (LH2) from Rhodopseudomonas acidophila strain 10050 shows that the active assembly consists of two concentric cylinders of helical protein subunits which enclose the pigment molecules. Eighteen bacteriochlorophyll a molecules sandwiched between the helices form a continuous overlapping ring, and a further nine are positioned between the outer helices with the bacteriochlorin rings perpendicular to the transmembrane helix axis. There is an elegant intertwining of the bacteriochlorophyll phytol chains with carotenoid, which spans the complex.