Regulation of light-harvesting and photoprotection are important components of research into photosynthetic mechanisms. The crystal structure of the light-harvesting complex (LHCII) provides an important foundation for this research. To further confirm the functional state of the LHC-II structure, Prof. Wenrui Chang's group collaborated with scientists in France, the Netherlands and the UK to explore the spectroscopic analysis of this crystal form, and showed that the structure is that of an energy dissipative state of LHC-II. This result provides novel information for understanding the mechanisms of energy dissipation and conformational change in LHC-II.

This work was published on Nature in 2005 (436(7047): 134-137).