The light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-binding proteins of photosystem II (LHCII) are the major components of the photosynthetic machinery in plants which contain more than 60% of plant chlorophyll.The LHCII proteins can be grouped into six subfamilies (Lhcb1-6) which are encoded by LHC gene family, Lhcb1, Lhcb2 and Lhcb3 are the major pigment-binding proteins which are encoded by Lhcb1, Lhcb2 and Lhcb3 genes, respectively. Lhcb1, Lhcb2 and Lhcb3 polypeptides each with about 232 amino acid residues are similar in sequence, Lhcb1-3 precursors are synthesized in cytoplasm and following transport into chloroplasts inserted into thylakoid membranes structure and function. Lhcb1 and Lhcb2 are the most abundant proteins in the light harvesting antenna complex.
