Lhcb3 | LHCII type III chlorophyll a/b-binding protein

The major light-harvesting antenna complex II (LHCII) in photsynthetic eukaryotes is located in the thylakoid membrane of the chloroplast. It is a heterotrimeric complex formed by up to 3 different individual subtypes of chlorophyll a/b-binding proteins: Lhcb1, Lhcb2, and Lhcb3. While Lhcb1 and Lhcb2 are quite similar and regularily present in multiple gene-copies, the Lhcb3 protein differs in pigment-composition and molecular size and often is coded by only a single gene. Lhcb3 seems not to be present in the mobile LHCII trimers involved in state 1-state 2 transitions. A molecular characterisation of the LHCII proteins can be found in Caffarri et al. (2004) A Look within LHCII: Differential Analysis of the Lhcb1−3 Complexes Building the Major Trimeric Antenna Complex of Higher-Plant Photosynthesis. Biochemistry 43 (29): 9467–9476.