ABSTRACT
At the heart of photosynthesis lies the photochemical reaction center (RC). Solar radiation provides the energy required for the RC pigments to donate an electron to an acceptor molecule. Nature has coevolved light-harvesting antenna systems made up of pigment–protein complexes coordinating a large number of and other accessory pigments. The antenna surrounding a single RC can be divided into two broad groups: the core and peripheral antenna. In higher plants and green algae, the peripheral antenna is made up of pigment–protein complexes from the light-harvesting complex (LHC) family. These complexes are integral thylakoid membrane proteins, which coordinate chlorophylls and carotenoidschlorophyll. This chapter focuses on providing a review of these complexes, which constitute 40% of the proteins found in the thylakoid membrane, making them the most abundant membrane proteins on Earth.
