Changing the site energy of per-614 in the Peridinin-chlorophyll a-protein does not alter its capability of chlorophyll triplet quenching

The Energy Transfer Yield between Carotenoids and Chlorophylls in Peridinin Chlorophyll a Protein Is Robust against Mutations

The energy transfer (ET) from carotenoids (Cars) to chlorophylls (Chls) in photosynthetic complexes occurs with almost unitary efficiency thanks to the synergistic action of multiple finely tuned channels whose photophysics and dynamics are not fully elucidated yet. We investigated the energy flow from the Car peridinin (Per) to Chl a in the peridinin chlorophyll a protein (PCP) from marine algae Amphidinium carterae by using two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES) with a 10 fs temporal resolution. Recently debated hypotheses regarding the S₂-to-S₁ relaxation of the Car via a conical intersection and the involvement of possible intermediate states in the ET were examined. The comparison with an N89L mutant carrying the Per donor in a lower-polarity environment helped us unveil relevant details on the mechanisms through which excitation was transferred: the ET yield was conserved even when a mutation perturbed the optimization of the system thanks to the coexistence of multiple channels exploited during the process.

Violaxanthin and Zeaxanthin May Replace Lutein at the L1 Site of LHCII, Conserving the Interactions with Surrounding Chlorophylls and the Capability of Triplet-Triplet Energy Transfer

Carotenoids represent the first line of defence of photosystems against singlet oxygen (¹O₂) toxicity, because of their capacity to quench the chlorophyll triplet state (³Chl) through a physical mechanism based on the transfer of triplet excitation (triplet-triplet energy transfer, TTET). In previous works, we showed that the antenna LHCII is characterised by a robust photoprotective mechanism, able to adapt to the removal of individual chlorophylls while maintaining a remarkable capacity for ³Chl quenching. In this work, we investigated the effects on this quenching induced in LHCII by the replacement of the lutein bound at the L1 site with violaxanthin and zeaxanthin. We studied LHCII isolated from the Arabidopsis thaliana mutants lut2-in which lutein is replaced by violaxanthin-and lut2 npq2, in which all xanthophylls are replaced constitutively by zeaxanthin. We characterised the photophysics of these systems via optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) and time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance (TR-EPR). We concluded that, in LHCII, lutein-binding sites have conserved characteristics, and ensure efficient TTET regardless of the identity of the carotenoid accommodated.

Altering the exciton landscape by removal of specific chlorophylls in monomeric LHCII provides information on the sites of triplet formation and quenching by means of ODMR and EPR spectroscopies

The triplet states populated under illumination in the monomeric light-harvesting complex II (LHCII) were analyzed by EPR and Optically Detected Magnetic Resonance (ODMR) in order to fully characterize the perturbations introduced by site-directed mutations leading to the removal of key chlorophylls. We considered the A2 and A5 mutants, lacking Chls a612(a611) and Chl a603 respectively, since these Chls have been proposed as the sites of formation of triplet states which are subsequently quenched by the luteins. Chls a612 and Chl a603 belong to the two clusters determining the low energy exciton states in the complex. Their removal is expected to significantly alter the excitation energy transfer pathways. On the basis of the TR- and pulse EPR triplet spectra, the two symmetrically related pairs constituted by Chl a612/Lut620 and Chl a603/Lut621 were both possible candidate for triplet-triplet energy transfer (TTET). However, the ODMR results clearly show that only Lut620 is involved in triplet quenching. In the A5 mutant, the Chl a612/Lut620 pair retains this pivotal photoprotective role, while the A2 mutant was found to activate an alternative pathway involving the Chl a603/Lut621pair. These results shows that LHCII is characterized by a robust photoprotective mechanism, able to adapt to the removal of individual chromophores while maintaining a remarkable degree of Chl triplet quenching. Small amounts of unquenched Chl triplet states were also detected. The analysis of the results allowed us to assign the sites of "unquenched" chlorophyll triplets to Chl a610 and Chl a602.