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The Influence of Symmetry on the Electronic Structure of the Photosynthetic Pigment-Protein Complexes from Purple Bacteria

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Part of the book series: Springer Series in Chemical Physics ((CHEMICAL,volume 96))

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Summary

The primary reactions of purple bacterial photosynthesis take place in two pigment-protein complexes, the peripheral LH2 complex and the core RC-LH1 complex. In order to understand any type of excitation-energy transfer in the LH system detailed knowledge about the correlation between the geometrical structure and the nature of the electronically excited states is crucial. The interplay between the geometrical arrangement of the pigments and the transition probabilities of the various exciton states leads to key spectral features, such as narrow lines, that are clearly visible with single-molecule spectroscopy but are averaged out in conventional ensemble experiments. Combining low-temperature single-molecule spectroscopy with numerical simulations has allowed us to achieve a refined structural model for the bacteriochlorophyll a (BChl a) pigment arrangement in RC-LH1 core complexes of Rps. palustris. The experimental data are consistent with an equidistant arrangement of 15 BChl a dimers on an ellipse, where each dimer has been taken homologeous to those from the B850 pigment pool of LH2 from Rps. acidophila.

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Acknowledgements

We thank June Southall for the preparation of the light-harvesting complexes. RJC thanks the BBSRC for funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Experimental Physics IV and Bayreuth Institute for Macromolecular Research, Universität Bayreuth, Universtitätsstrasse 30, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany

    Martin F. Richter, Jürgen Baier, Silke Oellerich & Jürgen Köhler

  2. Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences Biomedical Research Building, University of Glasgow, 120 University Place, Glasgow, G12 8TA, UK

    Richard J. Cogdell

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  1. Martin F. Richter
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Correspondence to Jürgen Köhler .

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  1. Dept. Biophysics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 106 91, Sweden

    Astrid Gräslund

  2. rue du Centre 115, St. Sulpice, 1025, Switzerland

    Rudolf Rigler

  3. Dept. Biomolecular Physics, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, 106 91, Sweden

    Jerker Widengren

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Richter, M.F., Baier, J., Cogdell, R.J., Oellerich, S., Köhler, J. (2010). The Influence of Symmetry on the Electronic Structure of the Photosynthetic Pigment-Protein Complexes from Purple Bacteria. In: Gräslund, A., Rigler, R., Widengren, J. (eds) Single Molecule Spectroscopy in Chemistry, Physics and Biology. Springer Series in Chemical Physics, vol 96. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02597-6_26

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