Chromophore heterogeneity and photoconversion in phytochrome crystals and solution studied by resonance Raman spectroscopy

Abstract

(Graph Presented) Crystals of the photoreceptor phytochrome were studied nondestructively by resonance Raman spectroscopy. The spectra of the chromophore-binding domains (CBD) of phytochrome from Deinococcus radiodurans, from which three-dimensional structures have been determined, demonstrate the same chromophore structure in the parent Pr state as in solution. Unlike CBD, crystals of phytochrome from Agrobacterium tumefaciens including the CBD and the PHY domain can be photoconverted to a Meta-Rc-like state.