PARENT SESSION
Plenary Lectures 3
Wednesday September 1st, 2004 8:30 AM Room 210A

Photosystem II revealed by structural analyses. James Barber^*,1, ¹ Wolfson Laboratories, London, UK

ABSTRACT- To obtain a complete understanding of the chemistry of water oxidation by photosystem II is the 'holy grail' of photosynthesis research. A wide variety of techniques have been employed to attack this challenge and recently a giant step forward has been made by the application of X-ray crystallography. We are now in the final phase of fully elucidating the molecular mechanism of photosystem II: an enzyme on which we all depend and which makes our planet special. The lecture will focus on the structural properties of photosystem II and their implications.

KEY WORDS: structure, photosystem II, molecular mechanism, water oxidation