Design and expression of cysteine-bearing hydrophobic polypeptides and their self-assembling properties with bacteriochlorophyll a derivatives as a mimic of bacterial photosynthetic antenna complexes: Effect of steric confinement and orientation of the polypeptides on the pigment/polypeptide assembly process

A series of cysteine bearing hydrophobic polypeptides analogous to a light-harvesting one beta-polypeptide (LH1beta) from the LH1 complex from the purple photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodobacter sphaeroides, is synthesized using an Escherichia coli expression system. It is found that the polypeptide orientation strongly influences the LH1-type complex formation.