Abstract Photosystem I (PSI) contributes to light-conversion reactions; however, its oligomerization state is variable among photosynthetic organisms. Herein we present a 3.8-Å resolution cryo-electron microscopic structure of tetrameric PSI isolated from a glaucophyte alga Cyanophora paradoxa . The PSI tetramer is organized in a dimer of dimers form with a C2 symmetry. Different from cyanobacterial PSI tetramer, two of the four monomers are rotated around 90°, resulting in a totally different pattern of monomer-monomer interactions. Excitation-energy transfer among chlorophylls differs significantly between Cyanophora and cyanobacterial PSI tetramers. These structural and spectroscopic features reveal characteristic interactions and energy transfer in the Cyanophora PSI tetramer, thus offering an attractive idea for the changes of PSI from prokaryotes to eukaryotes.

Structural insights into an evolutionary turning-point of photosystem I from prokaryotes to eukaryotes