Assembly of the Major Light-harvesting Chlorophyll-a/b Complex

The major light-harvesting chlorophyll-a/b complex in most higher plants contains three carotenoids, lutein, neoxanthin, and violaxanthin. How these pigments are assembled into the complex during its biogenesis is largely unknown. Here we show that neoxanthin but not lutein can dissociate from the fully assembled complex. Its equilibrium binding constant in a detergent system (0.1% n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside) was determined to be > or = 10(6) m(-1). Neoxanthin insertion into light-harvesting chlorophyll-a/b complex prefolded from overexpressed apoprotein (Lhcb1*2 from Pisum sativum) in the presence of chlorophylls a, b, and lutein as the sole carotenoid is kinetically controlled by an activ…