TRUNCATED RECOMBINANT LIGHT-HARVESTING COMPLEX-II PROTEINS ARE SUBSTRATES FOR A PROTEIN-KINASE ASSOCIATED WITH PHOTOSYSTEM-II CORE COMPLEXES

Previous studies directed towards understanding phosphorylation of the chlorophyll a/b binding proteins comprising light harvesting complex II (LHC II) have concentrated on a single phosphorylation site located close to the N-terminus of the mature proteins. Here we show that a s eries of recombinant pea Lhcb1 proteins, each missing an N-terminal se gment including this site, are nevertheless phosphorylated by a protei n kinase associated with a photosystem II core complex preparation. An Lhcb1 protein missing the first 58 amino acid residues is not, howeve r, phosphorylated. The results demonstrate that the LHC II proteins ar e phosphorylated at one or more sites, the implications of which are d iscussed, (C) 1998 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.