The structure of the stress-induced photosystem I–IsiA antenna supercomplex

Photochemical conversion in oxygenic photosynthesis takes place in two large protein–pigment complexes named photosystem II and photosystem I (PSII and PSI, respectively). Photosystems associate with antennae in vivo to increase the size of photosynthetic units to hundreds or thousands of pigments. Regulation of the interactions between antennae and photosystems allows photosynthetic organisms to adapt to their environment. In low-iron environments, cyanobacteria express IsiA, a PSI antenna, critical to their survival. Here we describe the structure of the PSI–IsiA complex isolated from the mesophilic cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. This 2-MDa photosystem–antenna supercomplex structure reveals more than 700 pigments coordinated by 51 subunits, as well as the mechanisms facilitating the self-assembly and association of IsiA with multiple PSI assemblies.