Redox-coupled proton pumping drives carbon concentration in the photosynthetic complex I

Abstract

Cyanobacteria evolved carbon-concentration mechanisms to enhance the efficiency of photosynthetic CO2 fixation, but the molecular principles have remained unknown. Here authors use cryo-EM to reveal how modular adaptations enabled the photosynthetic complex I from the cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus to concentrate CO2.