Single Compartment Approach for Assembling Photosynthetic Protocells

In this work, we show the extraction, purification and reconstitution of the bacterial protein complex bc1 in giant lipid vesicles used as versatile micro-sized enzymatic reactors. Firstly, it is demonstrated that the bc1 shows an enzymatic activity also as micellar suspension when the proper substrates are added. Moreover, it has been possible to reconstitute, with the droplet transfer method, the bc1 complex in artificial giant lipid vesicles. The reconstitution has been proved by confocal microscopy analysis demonstrating a change of internal pH, thanks to a pH-sensitive fluorescent dye, upon the addition of a trigger substrate.