Single-protein study of photoresistance of pigment–protein complex in lipid bilayer

Photoresistance of a pigment-binding membrane protein, light-harvesting 2 (LH2) complex from the photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodopseudomonas acidophila, was investigated by fluorescence of single LH2 complexes at a temperature of 296 K. Before irreversibly stopping fluorescence, a single LH2 complex in phospholipid bilayer of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) emitted on average 4 times more fluorescence photons than a complex in detergent micelle of octylglucopyranoside (OG). Fluorescence-excitation spectrum of single LH2 complexes taken at 5 K showed that the LH2 complex is structurally less perturbed in DMPC bilayer than in OG micelle, suggesting that structural instability reduces photoresistance of LH2.