Photosystem I in Equisetum arvense: Exploring Photosynthetic Architecture beyond Model Plants

How much of the molecular architecture of Photosystem I—the complex that helps convert light energy into chemical energy has been conserved during plant evolution? We are using Equisetum arvense, a horsetail belonging to the fern (monilophyte) lineage outside the seed plants, to address this question through an integrated programme combining plant cultivation, biochemical isolation and single-particle cryo-electron microscopy.

In this seminar, Dmitry Semchonok will present our ongoing structural characterisation of Photosystem I, centred on a high-resolution cryo-EM reconstruction obtained from glasshouse-grown E. arvense. The reconstruction provides a basis for comparison with established flowering-plant PSI structures and for testing which features of the reaction-centre core and light-harvesting antenna are conserved, and where structural variation may occur.

The broader programme is extending towards Photosystem II and environmental monitoring, with the longer-term aim of relating defined growth conditions to photosystem composition and architecture.

Together, these efforts establish an integrative framework for investigating how photosynthetic membrane complexes vary across evolutionary and environmental contexts beyond established model plants.

SCANs are weekly seminars that happen every Wednesday at noon by in-house researchers and invited speakers at ITQB NOVA.

For more information, please contact Sandra Viegas (sviegas@itqb.unl.pt).