Ultrafast dynamics of excitation energy transfer and trapping in bacterial photosynthesis

Villy Sundstrom; Rienk van Grondelle

doi:10.1117/12.146155

17 June 1993 Ultrafast dynamics of excitation energy transfer and trapping in bacterial photosynthesis

Villy Sundstrom, Rienk van Grondelle

Proceedings Volume 1921, Laser Spectroscopy of Biomolecules; (1993) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.146155
Event: Laser Spectroscopy of Biomolecules: 4th International Conference on Laser Applications in Life Sciences, 1992, Jyvaskyla, Finland

Abstract

With infrared transient absorption spectroscopy we have studied how energy migrates through the light-harvesting antenna of photosynthetic purple bacteria, and how the energy is trapped by the reaction center. In Bchl a-containing purple bacteria the light-harvesting (LH) antenna is highly heterogeneous, consisting of several spectroscopically distinct pigments. Energy transfer among these pigments occurs on several different time-scales. The overall trapping time at room temperature is about 60 ps, while energy transfer from the high-energy to the low-energy pigments of the lightharvesting antenna only takes 10 ps (measured at 77 K). This implies that trapping is relatively slow, 35 ps at 77 K and probably not much faster at room temperature. Energy transfer among neighboring Bchl molecules within a pigment-protein complex occurs on the 1 ps to subpicosecond time scale. For the Bchl b-containing purple bacterium Rps.viridis the results show that the antenna is homogeneous, and trapping can approximately be described by a randomwalk model, provided that the light-harvesting antenna and reaction center are more tightly coupled than in the Bchl a containingpurple bacteria.

Citation Download Citation

Villy Sundstrom and Rienk van Grondelle "Ultrafast dynamics of excitation energy transfer and trapping in bacterial photosynthesis", Proc. SPIE 1921, Laser Spectroscopy of Biomolecules, (17 June 1993); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.146155

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