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Kinetic bacteriochlorophyll fluorometer

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Abstract

A pump and probe fluorometer with a laser diode as single light source has been constructed for measurement of fast induction and relaxation of the fluorescence yield in intact cells, chromatophores and isolated reaction centers of photosynthetic bacteria. The time resolution of the fluorometer is limited by the repetition time of the probing flashes to 20 μs. The apparatus offers high sensitivity, excellent performance and can become a versatile device for a range of demanding applications. Some of them are demonstrated here including fast and easy investigation of the (1) organization and redox state of the photosynthetic apparatus of the intact cells of different bacterial strains and mutants and (2) electron transfer reactions on donor and acceptor sides of isolated reaction centers. The compact design of the mechanics, optics, electronics, and data processing makes the device easy to use as outdoor instrument or to integrate into larger measuring systems.

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Abbreviations

AQ:

Anthraquinone

BChl:

Bacteriochlorophyll

Bla. :

Blastochloris

Bpheo:

Bacteriopheophytine

D:

External electron donor to P+

F 0 :

Initial (dark) level of fluorescence

F v :

Variable fluorescence

LDAO:

N,N′-dimethyldodecylamine N-oxide

P:

Primary electron donor, a non-covalently linked bacteriochlorophyll dimer

PQ:

Plastoquinone

PS:

Photosystem

QA :

Primary quinone electron acceptor

QB :

Secondary quinone electron acceptor

Triton X-100:

Octylphenol polyethylene glycol ether

Rba. :

Rhodobacter

Rsp. :

Rhodospirillum

RC:

Reaction center

UQ10 :

Ubiquinone-50

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Acknowledgments

We are indebted to Drs. Gábor Laczkó (University of Szeged) and Colin A. Wraight (University of Illinois, Urbana) for their valuable advises in the early phase of this project. Thanks to NKTH-OTKA (K-67850 and K-69018) and COST (CM 0902) for the support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental Physics, University of Szeged, Rerrich Béla tér 1, Szeged, 6720, Hungary

    Péter Kocsis & Zoltán Gingl

  2. Department of Biophysics, University of Szeged, Rerrich Béla tér 1, Szeged, 6720, Hungary

    Emese Asztalos & Péter Maróti

Authors
  1. Péter Kocsis
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  2. Emese Asztalos
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  3. Zoltán Gingl
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  4. Péter Maróti
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Correspondence to Péter Maróti.

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Kocsis, P., Asztalos, E., Gingl, Z. et al. Kinetic bacteriochlorophyll fluorometer. Photosynth Res 105, 73–82 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-010-9556-6

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