Li X, Buda F, de Groot HJ, Sevink GJA. The role of chirality and plastic crystallinity in the optical and mechanical properties of chlorosomes.
iScience 2022;
25:103618. [PMID:
35005556 PMCID:
PMC8719020 DOI:
10.1016/j.isci.2021.103618]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2021] [Revised: 11/15/2021] [Accepted: 12/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The most efficient light-harvesting antennae found in nature, chlorosomes, are molecular tubular aggregates (TMAs) assembled by pigments without protein scaffolds. Here, we discuss a classification of chlorosomes as a unique tubular plastic crystal and we attribute the robust energy transfer in chlorosomes to this unique nature. To systematically study the role of supramolecular tube chirality by molecular simulation, a role that has remained unresolved, we share a protocol for generating realistic tubes at atomic resolution. We find that both the optical and the mechanical behavior are strongly dependent on chirality. The optical-chirality relation enables a direct interpretation of experimental spectra in terms of overall tube chirality. The mechanical response shows that the overall chirality regulates the hardness of the tube and provides a new characteristic for relating chlorosomes to distinct chirality. Our protocol also applies to other TMA systems and will inspire other systematic studies beyond lattice models.
Classifies chlorosomes in terms of a tubular plastic crystal phase
Clarifies the unique strategy of chlorosomes for harvesting and transporting energy
Presents a protocol for building atom-resolved helical tube structures
Maps tube chirality directly to measurable optical and mechanical responses
Collapse