Characterization of the intramolecular transfer state of marine carotenoid fucoxanthin by femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy

Multiwavelength Photoacoustic Doppler Flowmetry of Living Microalgae Cells

Photoacoustics can provide a direct measurement of light absorption by microalgae depending on the photosynthesis pigment within them. In this study, we have performed photoacoustic flowmetry on living microalgae cells to measure their flow characteristics, which include flow speed, flow angle, flow direction, and, more importantly, the photoacoustic absorption spectrum, all by observing the photoacoustic Doppler power spectra during their flowing state. A supercontinuum pulsed laser with a high repetition frequency is used as the light source: through intensity modulation at a specified frequency, it can provide wavelength-selectable excitation of a photoacoustic signal centered around this frequency. Our approach can be useful to simultaneously measure the flow characteristics of microalgae and easily discriminate their different species with high accuracy in both static and dynamic states, thus facilitating the study of their cultivation and their role in our ecosystem.

Fluorescence quenching in aggregates of fucoxanthin-chlorophyll protein complexes: Interplay of fluorescing and dark states

Diatoms, a major group of algae, account for about a quarter of the global primary production on Earth. These photosynthetic organisms face significant challenges due to light intensity variations in their underwater habitat. To avoid photodamage, they have developed very efficient non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) mechanisms. These mechanisms originate in their light-harvesting antenna - the fucoxanthin-chlorophyll protein (FCP) complexes. Spectroscopic studies of NPQ in vivo are often hindered by strongly overlapping signals from the photosystems and their antennae. Fortunately, in vitro FCP aggregates constitute a useful model system to study fluorescence (FL) quenching in diatoms. In this work, we present streak-camera FL measurements on FCPa and FCPb complexes, isolated from a centric diatom Cyclotella meneghiniana, and their aggregates. We find that spectra of non-aggregated FCP are dominated by a single fluorescing species, but the FL spectra of FCP aggregates additionally contain contributions from a redshifted emissive state. We relate this red state to a charge transfer state between chlorophyll c and chlorophyll a molecules. The FL quenching, on the other hand, is due to an additional dark state that involves incoherent energy transfer to the fucoxanthin carotenoids. Overall, the global picture of energy transfer and quenching in FCP aggregates is very similar to that of major light-harvesting complexes in higher plants (LHCII), but microscopic details between FCPs and LHCIIs differ significantly.

Intramolecular charge-transfer enhances energy transfer efficiency in carotenoid-reconstituted light-harvesting 1 complex of purple photosynthetic bacteria

In bacterial photosynthesis, the excitation energy transfer (EET) from carotenoids to bacteriochlorophyll a has a significant impact on the overall efficiency of the primary photosynthetic process. This efficiency can be enhanced when the involved carotenoid has intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) character, as found in light-harvesting systems of marine alga and diatoms. Here, we provide insights into the significance of ICT excited states following the incorporation of a higher plant carotenoid, β-apo-8'-carotenal, into the carotenoidless light-harvesting 1 (LH1) complex of the purple photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum strain G9+. β-apo-8'-carotenal generates the ICT excited state in the reconstituted LH1 complex, achieving an efficiency of EET of up to 79%, which exceeds that found in the wild-type LH1 complex.

Solvent-Dependent Characterization of Fucoxanthin through 2D Electronic Spectroscopy Reveals New Details on the Intramolecular Charge-Transfer State Dynamics

The electronic state manifolds of carotenoids and their relaxation dynamics are the object of intense investigation because most of the subtle details regulating their photophysics are still unknown. In order to contribute to this quest, here, we present a solvent-dependent 2D Electronic Spectroscopy (2DES) characterization of fucoxanthin, a carbonyl carotenoid involved in the light-harvesting process of brown algae. The 2DES technique allows probing its ultrafast relaxation dynamics in the first 1000 fs after photoexcitation with a 10 fs time resolution. The obtained results help shed light on the dynamics of the first electronic state manifold and, in particular, on an intramolecular charge-transfer state (ICT), whose photophysical properties are particularly elusive given its (almost) dark nature.

Strategies to enhance the excitation energy-transfer efficiency in a light-harvesting system using the intra-molecular charge transfer character of carotenoids

Fucoxanthin is a carotenoid that is mainly found in light-harvesting complexes from brown algae and diatoms. Due to the presence of a carbonyl group attached to polyene chains in polar environments, excitation produces an excited intra-molecular charge transfer. This intra-molecular charge transfer state plays a key role in the highly efficient (∼95%) energy-transfer from fucoxanthin to chlorophyll a in the light-harvesting complexes from brown algae. In purple bacterial light-harvesting systems the efficiency of excitation energy-transfer from carotenoids to bacteriochlorophylls depends on the extent of conjugation of the carotenoids. In this study we were successful, for the first time, in incorporating fucoxanthin into a light-harvesting complex 1 from the purple photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodospirillum rubrum G9+ (a carotenoidless strain). Femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy was applied to this reconstituted light-harvesting complex in order to determine the efficiency of excitation energy-transfer from fucoxanthin to bacteriochlorophyll a when they are bound to the light-harvesting 1 apo-proteins.

Understanding/unravelling carotenoid excited singlet states

Carotenoids are essential light-harvesting pigments in natural photosynthesis. They absorb in the blue-green region of the solar spectrum and transfer the absorbed energy to (bacterio-)chlorophylls, and thus expand the wavelength range of light that is able to drive photosynthesis. This process is an example of singlet-singlet excitation energy transfer, and carotenoids serve to enhance the overall efficiency of photosynthetic light reactions. The photochemistry and photophysics of carotenoids have often been interpreted by referring to those of simple polyene molecules that do not possess any functional groups. However, this may not always be wise because carotenoids usually have a number of functional groups that induce the variety of photochemical behaviours in them. These differences can also make the interpretation of the singlet excited states of carotenoids very complicated. In this article, we review the properties of the singlet excited states of carotenoids with the aim of producing as coherent a picture as possible of what is currently known and what needs to be learned.

Excited state properties of β-carotene analogs incorporating a lactone ring

Carotenoids possessing a carbonyl group along their polyene backbone exhibit unique excited state properties due to the occurrence of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) in the excited state. In fact, the ICT characteristics of naturally occurring carbonyl carotenoids play an essential role in the highly efficient energy transfer that proceeds in aquatic photosynthetic antenna systems. In the present study, we synthesized two short-chain polyene carotenoids incorporating a lactone ring, denoted as BL-7 and BL-8, having seven and eight conjugated double bonds (n = 7 and 8), respectively. The excited state properties of these compounds were directly compared to those of their non-carbonyl counterparts to clarify the role of the carbonyl group in the generation of ICT. The energies of the optically allowed S₂ states for BL-7 and BL-8 were found to be more than 0.3 eV (2400 cm^-1) below those of non-carbonyl short β-carotene homologs. Ultrafast spectroscopic data demonstrated various solvent polarity-induced effects, including the appearance of stimulated emission in the near-IR region in the case of BL-7, and significant lifetime shortening of the lowest-lying singlet S₁ excited states of both BL-7 and BL-8. These results suggest that these compounds exhibit ICT characteristics.

Challenges facing an understanding of the nature of low-energy excited states in photosynthesis

While the majority of the photochemical states and pathways related to the biological capture of solar energy are now well understood and provide paradigms for artificial device design, additional low-energy states have been discovered in many systems with obscure origins and significance. However, as low-energy states are naively expected to be critical to function, these observations pose important challenges. A review of known properties of low energy states covering eight photochemical systems, and options for their interpretation, are presented. A concerted experimental and theoretical research strategy is suggested and outlined, this being aimed at providing a fully comprehensive understanding.

Investigation of the S1/ICT equilibrium in fucoxanthin by ultrafast pump-dump-probe and femtosecond stimulated Raman scattering spectroscopy

Time-resolved multi-pulse spectroscopic methods-pump-dump-probe (PDP) and femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy-were used to investigate the excited state photodynamics of the carbonyl group containing carotenoid fucoxanthin (FX). PDP experiments show that S1 and ICT states in FX are strongly coupled and that the interstate equilibrium is rapidly (<5 ps) reestablished after one of the interacting states is deliberately depopulated. Femtosecond stimulated Raman scattering experiments indicate that S1 and ICT are vibrationally distinct species. Identification of the FSRS modes on the S1 and ICT potential energy surfaces allows us to predict a possible coupling channel for the state interaction.

Carotenoids and Photosynthesis

Carotenoids are ubiquitous and essential pigments in photosynthesis. They absorb in the blue-green region of the solar spectrum and transfer the absorbed energy to (bacterio-)chlorophylls, and so expand the wavelength range of light that is able to drive photosynthesis. This is an example of singlet-singlet energy transfer, and so carotenoids serve to enhance the overall efficiency of photosynthetic light reactions. Carotenoids also act to protect photosynthetic organisms from the harmful effects of excess exposure to light. Triplet-triplet energy transfer from chlorophylls to carotenoids plays a key role in this photoprotective reaction. In the light-harvesting pigment-protein complexes from purple photosynthetic bacteria and chlorophytes, carotenoids have an additional role of structural stabilization of those complexes. In this article we review what is currently known about how carotenoids discharge these functions. The molecular architecture of photosynthetic systems will be outlined first to provide a basis from which to describe carotenoid photochemistry, which underlies most of their important functions in photosynthesis.

Different Response of Carbonyl Carotenoids to Solvent Proticity Helps To Estimate Structure of the Unknown Carotenoid from Chromera velia

In order to estimate the possible structure of the unknown carbonyl carotenoid related to isofucoxanthin from Chromera velia denoted as isofucoxanthin-like carotenoid (Ifx-l), we employed steady-state and ultrafast time-resolved spectroscopic techniques to investigate spectroscopic properties of Ifx-l in various solvents. The results were compared with those measured for related carotenoids with known structure: fucoxanthin (Fx) and isofucoxanthin (Ifx). The experimental data were complemented by quantum chemistry calculations and molecular modeling. The data show that Ifx-l must have longer effective conjugation length than Ifx. Yet, the magnitude of polarity-dependent changes in Ifx-l is larger than for Ifx, suggesting significant differences in structure of these two carotenoids. The most interesting spectroscopic feature of Ifx-l is its response to solvent proticity. The transient absorption data show that (1) the magnitude of the ICT-like band of Ifx-l in acetonitrile is larger than in methanol and (2) the S1/ICT lifetime of Ifx-l in acetonitrile, 4 ps, is markedly shorter than in methanol (10 ps). This is opposite behavior than for Fx and Ifx whose S1/ICT lifetimes are always shorter in protic solvent methanol (20 and 13 ps) than in aprotic acetonitrile (30 and 17 ps). Comparison with other carbonyl carotenoids reported earlier showed that proticity response of Ifx-l is consistent with presence of a conjugated lactone ring. Combining the experimental data and quantum chemistry calculations, we estimated a possible structure of Ifx-l.

Ultrafast time-resolved vibrational spectroscopies of carotenoids in photosynthesis

This review discusses the application of time-resolved vibrational spectroscopies to the studies of carotenoids in photosynthesis. The focus is on the ultrafast time regime and the study of photophysics and photochemistry of carotenoids by femtosecond time-resolved stimulated Raman and four-wave mixing spectroscopies. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Vibrational spectroscopies and bioenergetic systems.