Photoresistance of a pigment-binding membrane protein, light-harvesting 2 (LH2) complex from the photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodopseudomonas acidophila, was investigated by fluorescence of single LH2 complexes at a temperature of 296 K. Before irreversibly stopping fluorescence, a single LH2 complex in phospholipid bilayer of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) emitted on average 4 times more fluorescence photons than a complex in detergent micelle of octylglucopyranoside (OG). Fluorescence-excitation spectrum of single LH2 complexes taken at 5 K showed that the LH2 complex is structurally less perturbed in DMPC bilayer than in OG micelle, suggesting that structural instability reduces photoresistance of LH2. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.