High efficient expression of Lhcb2 gene from pea in E. coli and reconstitution of its expressed product with pigment in vitro

Lhcb2 gene from pea (Pisum sativum L.) was subcloned into bacterial expression vector pET-3d, and its protein overexpressed was obtained from E. coli (BL21) containing PetpLhcb2 by site-directed mutagenesis method. Bacteria transformed with this construct yielded up to 40 percent of total protein of E. coli. Using the modified method with three subsequent cycles of freezing (1 min, -196℃) and thawing (15 min, 25℃), Lhcb2 protein purified was highly reconstituted with pigments to yield pigment-protein complexes. The reconstituted LHCB2 monomers were very similar to native LHCII monomers from spinach in partially denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, fluorescence and absorbance spectroscopy. These results showed that Lhcb2 proteins overexpressed were reconstituted successfully with pigments and had similar organization and structure to the native LHCII monomers.