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Quenching of chlorophyll triplet states by carotenoids is an essential photoprotective process, which prevents formation of reactive singlet oxygen in photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes. The process is usually very efficient in oxygenic organisms under physiological conditions, thus preventing any observable accumulation of chlorophyll triplets. However, it subsequently prevents also the determination of the triplet transfer rate. Here we report results of nanosecond transient absorption spectroscopy on photosystem I core complexes, where a major part of chlorophyll a triplet states (~60 %) accumulates on a nanosecond time scale at ambient temperature. As a consequence, the triplet energy transfer could be resolved and the transfer time was determined to be about 24 ns. A smaller fraction of chlorophyll a triplet states (~40 %) is quenched with a faster rate, which could not be determined. Our analysis indicates that these chlorophylls are in direct contact with carotenoids. The overall chlorophyll triplet yield in the core antenna was estimated to be ~0.3 %, which is a value two orders of magnitude smaller than in most other photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes. This explains why slower quenching of chlorophyll triplet states is sufficient for photoprotection of photosystem I. Nevertheless, the core antenna of photosystem I represents one of only few photosynthetic complexes of oxygenic organisms in which the quenching rate of the majority of chlorophyll triplets can be directly monitored under physiological temperature.

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The structure of phycobiliproteins of the cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina was investigated in buffer solution at physiological temperatures, i.e. under the same conditions applied in spectroscopic experiments, using small angle neutron scattering. The scattering data of intact phycobiliproteins in buffer solution containing phosphate can be well described using a cylindrical shape with a length of about 225Å and a diameter of approximately 100Å. This finding is qualitatively consistent with earlier electron microscopy studies reporting a rod-like shape of the phycobiliproteins with a length of about 250 (M. Chen et al., FEBS Letters 583, 2009, 2535) or 300Å (J. Marquart et al., FEBS Letters 410, 1997, 428). In contrast, phycobiliproteins dissolved in buffer lacking phosphate revealed a splitting of the rods into cylindrical subunits with a height of 28Å only, but also a pronounced sample aggregation. Complementary small angle neutron and X-ray scattering experiments on phycocyanin suggest that the cylindrical subunits may represent either trimeric phycocyanin or trimeric allophycocyanin. Our findings are in agreement with the assumption that a phycobiliprotein rod with a total height of about 225Å can accommodate seven trimeric phycocyanin subunits and one trimeric allophycocyanin subunit, each of which having a height of about 28Å. The structural information obtained by small angle neutron and X-ray scattering can be used to interpret variations in the low-energy region of the 4.5K absorption spectra of phycobiliproteins dissolved in buffer solutions containing and lacking phosphate, respectively.

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Quantum dots (QDs) can absorb ultraviolet and long-wavelength light energy much more efficiently than natural light-harvesting proteins and transfer the excitation energy to photosynthetic reaction centers (RCs). Inclusion into liposomes of RC membrane pigment-protein complexes combined with QDs as antennae opens new opportunities for using such hybrid systems as a basis for artificial energy-transforming devices that potentially can operate with greater efficiency and stability than devices based only on biological components. RCs from Rhodobacter sphaeroides and QDs with fluorescence maximum at 530 nm (CdSe/ZnS with hydrophilic covering) were embedded in lecithin liposomes by extrusion of a solution of multilayer lipid vesicles through a polycarbonate membrane or by dialysis of lipids and proteins dispersed with excess detergent. The dimensions of the resulting hybrid systems were evaluated using dynamic light scattering and by transmission cryoelectron microscopy. The efficiency of RC and QD interaction within the liposomes was estimated using fluorescence excitation spectra of the photoactive bacteriochlorophyll of the RCs and by measuring the fluorescence decay kinetics of the QDs. The functional activity of the RCs in hybrid complexes was fully maintained, and their stability was even increased.

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Reaction centers (RCs) of purple bacteria are uniquely suited objects to study the mechanisms of the photosynthetic conversion of light energy into chemical energy. A recently introduced method of higher order derivative spectroscopy [I.K. Mikhailyuk, H. Lokstein, A.P. Razjivin, A method of spectral subband decomposition by simultaneous fitting the initial spectrum and a set of its derivatives, J. Biochem. Biophys. Methods 63 (2005) 10-23] was used to analyze the NIR absorption spectra of RC preparations from Rhodobacter (R.) sphaeroides strain 2R and Blastochloris (B.) viridis strain KH, containing bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) a and b, respectively. Q(y) bands of individual RC porphyrin components (BChls and bacteriopheophytins, BPheo) were identified. The results indicate that the upper exciton level P(y+) of the photo-active BChl dimer in RCs of R. sphaeroides has an absorption maximum of 810nm. The blue shift of a complex integral band at approximately 800nm upon oxidation of the RC is caused primarily by bleaching of P(y+), rather than by an electrochromic shift of the absorption band(s) of the monomeric BChls. Likewise, the disappearance of a band peaking at 842nm upon oxidation of RCs from B. viridis indicates that this band has to be assigned to P(y+). A blue shift of an absorption band at approximately 830nm upon oxidation of RCs of B. viridis is also essentially caused by the disappearance of P(y+), rather than by an electrochromic shift of the absorption bands of monomeric BChls. Absorption maxima of the monomeric BChls, B(B) and B(A) are at 802 and 797nm, respectively, in RCs of R. sphaeroides at room temperature. BPheo co-factors H(B) and H(A) peak at 748 and 758nm, respectively, at room temperature. For B. viridis RCs the spectral positions of H(B) and H(A) were found to be 796 and 816nm, respectively, at room temperature.

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The first excited singlet state (S(1)) of carotenoids (also termed 2A(g)(-)) plays a key role in photosynthetic excitation energy transfer due to its close proximity to the S(1) (Q(y)) level of chlorophylls. The determination of carotenoid 2A(g)(-) energies by optical techniques is difficult; transitions from the ground state (S(0), 1A(g)(-)) to the 2A(g)(-) state are forbidden ("optically dark") due to parity (g <-- //--> g) as well as pseudo-parity selection rules (- <-- //--> -). Of particular interest are S(1) energies of the so-called xanthophyll-cycle pigments (violaxanthin, antheraxanthin and zeaxanthin) due to their involvement in photoprotection in plants. Previous determinations of S(1) energies of violaxanthin and zeaxanthin by different spectroscopic techniques vary considerably. Here we present an alternative approach towards elucidation of the optically dark states of xanthophylls by near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS). The indication of at least one pi* energy level (about 0.5 eV below the lowest 1B(u)(+) vibronic sublevel) has been found for zeaxanthin. Present limitations and future improvements of NEXAFS to study optically dark states of carotenoids are discussed. NEXAFS combined with simultaneous optical pumping will further aid the investigation of these otherwise hardly accessible states.

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Native and carotenoid-depleted peripheral purple bacterial light-harvesting complex (LH2) were investigated by simultaneous two-photon excited (between 1300-1500 nm) fluorescence (TPF). TPF results from direct bacteriochlorophyll excitation in both samples. The spectral position of the 2A(g)(-) state of rhodopin [corrected] is indicated by a diminuition of the bacteriochlorophyll TPF in native LH2. In conclusion, comparison to carotenoid-depleted samples is a conditio sine qua non for unambiguous interpretation of similar experiments.

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A novel soft X-ray and optical short-pulse double resonance spectroscopic technique tailor-made to elucidate processes involving the optically forbidden S1 (2(1)A(g)) state of carotenoids in native biological samples (e.g., photosynthetic antenna complexes) is described. The principle relies on probing the near carbon K-edge absorption of the optically excited sample with soft X-rays generated by a laser-induced plasma. A first application concerns location of the 2(1)A(g) state of beta-carotene in vitro. Further applications are proposed.

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Prochlorococcus marinus strain CCMP 1375 is the sole prokaryote to possess phycoerythrin in addition to (divinyl-)chlorophyll a/b binding antenna complexes. Here we demonstrate, employing a spectrofluorimetric assay, that phycoerythrin serves a light-harvesting antenna function (transfers energy to chlorophylls).

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The pho1 mutant of Arabidopsis has been shown to respond to the phosphate deficiency in the leaves by decreasing the amount of phosphatidylglycerol (PG). PG is thought to be of crucial importance for the organization and function of the thylakoid membrane. This prompted us to ask what the consequences of the PG deficiency may be in the pho1 mutant when grown under low or high light. While in the wild-type, the lipid pattern was almost insensitive to changes in the growth light, PG was reduced to 45% under low light in the mutant, and it decreased further to 35% under high light. Concomitantly, sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerol (SQDG) and to a lesser extent digalactosyl diacylglycerol (DGDG) increased. The SQDG increase correlated with increased amounts of the SQD1 protein, an indicator for an actively mediated process. Despite of alterations in the ultrastructure, mutant thylakoids showed virtually no effects on photosynthetic electron transfer, O2 evolution and excitation energy allocation to the reaction centers. Our results support the idea that PG deficiency can at least partially be compensated for by the anionic lipid SQDG and the not charged lipid DGDG. This seems to be an important strategy to maintain an optimal thylakoid lipid milieu for vital processes, such as photosynthesis, under a restricted phosphate availability.

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The glycerolipid digalactosyl diacylglycerol (DGDG) is exclusively associated with photosynthetic membranes and thus may play a role in the proper assembly and maintenance of the photosynthetic apparatus. Here we employ a genetic approach based on the dgd1 mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana to investigate the function of DGDG in thylakoid membranes. The primary defect in the genetically well-characterized dgd1 mutant resulted in a 90% reduction of the DGDG content. The mutant showed a decreased photosystem II (PSII) to photosystem I ratio. In vivo room- and low-temperature (77 K) chlorophyll fluorescence measurements with thylakoid preparations are in agreement with a drastically altered excitation energy allocation to the reaction centers. Quantification of pigment-binding apoproteins and pigments supports an altered stoichiometry of individual pigment-protein complexes in the mutant. Most strikingly, an increase in the amount of peripheral light-harvesting complexes of PSII relative to the inner antenna complexes and the PSII reaction center/core complexes was observed. Regardless of the severe alterations in thylakoid organization, photosynthetic oxygen evolution was virtually not compromised in dgd1 mutant leaves.

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Xanthophyll-cycle kinetics as well as the relationship between the xanthophyll de-epoxidation state and Stern-Volmer type nonphotochemical chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence quenching (qN) were investigated in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) leaves comprising a stepwise reduced antenna system. For this purpose plants of the wild type (WT) and the Chl b-less mutant chlorina 3613 were cultivated under either continuous (CL) or intermittent light (IML). Violaxanthin (V) availability varied from about 70% in the WT up to 97 to 98% in the mutant and IML-grown plants. In CL-grown mutant leaves, de-epoxidation rates were strongly accelerated compared to the WT. This is ascribed to a different accessibility of V to the de-epoxidase due to the existence of two V pools: one bound to light-harvesting Chl a/b-binding complexes (LHC) and the other one not bound. Epoxidation rates (k) were decreased with reduction in LHC protein contents: kWT > kmutant >> kIML plants. This supports the idea that the epoxidase activity resides on certain LHC proteins. Irrespective of huge zeaxanthin and antheraxanthin accumulation, the capacity to develop qN was reduced stepwise with antenna size. The qN level obtained in dithiothreitol-treated CL- and IML-grown plants was almost identical with that in untreated IML-grown plants. The findings provide evidence that structural changes within the LHC proteins, mediated by xanthophyll-cycle operation, render the basis for the development of a major proportion of qN.

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Spectral substructure and ultrafast excitation dynamics have been investigated in the chlorophyll (Chl) a and b Qy region of isolated plant light-harvesting complex II (LHC II). We demonstrate the feasibility of Nonlinear Polarization Spectroscopy in the frequency domain, a novel photosynthesis research laser spectroscopic technique, to determine not only ultrafast population relaxation (T1) and dephasing (T2) times, but also to reveal the complex spectral substructure in the Qy band as well as the mode(s) of absorption band broadening at room temperature (RT). The study gives further direct evidence for the existence of up to now hypothetical "Chl forms". Of particular interest is the differentiated participation of the Chl forms in energy transfer in trimeric and aggregated LHC II. Limits for T2 are given in the range of a few ten fs. Inhomogeneous broadening does not exceed the homogeneous widths of the subbands at RT. The implications of the results for the energy transfer mechanisms in the antenna are discussed.

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