1
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Onizhuk M, Sohoni S, Galli G, Engel GS. Spatial Patterns of Light-Harvesting Antenna Complex Arrangements Tune the Transfer-to-Trap Efficiency of Excitons in Purple Bacteria. J Phys Chem Lett 2021; 12:6967-6973. [PMID: 34283617 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c01537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
In photosynthesis, the efficiency with which a photogenerated exciton reaches the reaction center is dictated by chromophore energies and the arrangement of chromophores in the supercomplex. Here, we explore the interplay between the arrangement of light-harvesting antennae and the efficiency of exciton transport in purple bacterial photosynthesis. Using a Miller-Abrahams-based exciton hopping model, we compare different arrangements of light-harvesting proteins on the intracytoplasmic membrane. We find that arrangements with aggregated LH1s have a higher efficiency than arrangements with randomly distributed LH1s in a wide range of physiological light fluences. This effect is robust to the introduction of defects on the intracytoplasmic membrane. Our result explains the absence of species with aggregated LH1 arrangements in low-light niches and the large increase seen in the expression of LH1 dimer complexes in high fluences. We suggest that the effect seen in our study is an adaptive strategy toward solar light fluence across different purple bacterial species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mykyta Onizhuk
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Siddhartha Sohoni
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
- James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
- The Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Giulia Galli
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
- Materials Science Division and Center for Molecular Engineering, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States
| | - Gregory S Engel
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
- James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
- The Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
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2
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Zheng F, Chen L, Gao J, Zhao Y. Fully Quantum Modeling of Exciton Diffusion in Mesoscale Light Harvesting Systems. MATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2021; 14:3291. [PMID: 34198704 PMCID: PMC8232211 DOI: 10.3390/ma14123291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2021] [Revised: 06/06/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
It has long been a challenge to accurately and efficiently simulate exciton-phonon dynamics in mesoscale photosynthetic systems with a fully quantum mechanical treatment due to extensive computational resources required. In this work, we tackle this seemingly intractable problem by combining the Dirac-Frenkel time-dependent variational method with Davydov trial states and implementing the algorithm in graphic processing units. The phonons are treated on the same footing as the exciton. Tested with toy models, which are nanoarrays of the B850 pigments from the light harvesting 2 complexes of purple bacteria, the methodology is adopted to describe exciton diffusion in huge systems containing more than 1600 molecules. The superradiance enhancement factor extracted from the simulations indicates an exciton delocalization over two to three pigments, in agreement with measurements of fluorescence quantum yield and lifetime in B850 systems. With fractal analysis of the exciton dynamics, it is found that exciton transfer in B850 nanoarrays exhibits a superdiffusion component for about 500 fs. Treating the B850 ring as an aggregate and modeling the inter-ring exciton transfer as incoherent hopping, we also apply the method of classical master equations to estimate exciton diffusion properties in one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) B850 nanoarrays using derived analytical expressions of time-dependent excitation probabilities. For both coherent and incoherent propagation, faster energy transfer is uncovered in 2D nanoarrays than 1D chains, owing to availability of more numerous propagating channels in the 2D arrangement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fulu Zheng
- Bremen Center for Computational Materials Science, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany;
| | - Lipeng Chen
- Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Str., 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany;
| | - Jianbo Gao
- Center for Geodata and Analysis, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China;
- Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Yang Zhao
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore
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3
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Chuang C, Brumer P. LH1-RC light-harvesting photocycle under realistic light-matter conditions. J Chem Phys 2020; 152:154101. [PMID: 32321270 DOI: 10.1063/5.0004490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Quantum master equations are used to simulate the photocycle of the light-harvesting complex 1 (LH1) and the associated reaction center (RC) in purple bacteria excited with natural incoherent light. The influence of the radiation and protein environments and the full photocycle of the complexes, including the charge separation and RC recovery processes, are taken into account. Particular emphasis is placed on the steady state excitation energy transfer rate between the LH1 and the RC and the steady state dependence on the light intensity. The transfer rate is shown to scale linearly with light intensity near the value in the natural habitat and at higher light intensities is found to be bounded by the rate-determining step of the photocycle, the RC recovery rate. Transient (e.g., pulsed laser induced) dynamics, however, shows rates higher than the steady state value and continues to scale linearly with the intensity. The results show a correlation between the transfer rate and the manner in which the donor state is prepared. In addition, the transition from the transient to the steady state results can be understood as a cascade of ever slower rate-determining steps and quasi-stationary states inherent in multi-scale sequential processes. This type of transition of rates is relevant in most light-induced biological machinery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chern Chuang
- Chemical Physics Theory Group, Department of Chemistry, and Center for Quantum Information and Quantum Control, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada
| | - Paul Brumer
- Chemical Physics Theory Group, Department of Chemistry, and Center for Quantum Information and Quantum Control, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada
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4
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Sáez-Blázquez R, Feist J, Romero E, Fernández-Domínguez AI, García-Vidal FJ. Cavity-Modified Exciton Dynamics in Photosynthetic Units. J Phys Chem Lett 2019; 10:4252-4258. [PMID: 31291109 PMCID: PMC6907886 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b01495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2019] [Accepted: 07/10/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Recently, exciton-photon strong coupling has been proposed as a means to control and enhance energy transfer in ensembles of organic molecules. Here, we demonstrate that the exciton dynamics in an archetypal purple bacterial photosynthetic unit, composed of six LH2 antennas surrounding a single LH1 complex, is greatly modified by its interaction with an optical cavity. We develop a Bloch-Redfield master equation approach that accounts for the interplay between the B800 and B850 bacteriochlorophyll molecules within each LH2 antenna, as well as their interactions with the central LH1 complex. Using a realistic parametrization of both the photosynthetic unit and optical cavity, we investigate the formation of polaritons in the system, revealing that these can be tuned to accelerate its exciton dynamics by 3 orders of magnitude. This yields a significant occupation of the LH1 complex, the stage immediately prior to the reaction center, with only a few-femtosecond delay after the initial excitation of the LH2 B800 pigments. Our theoretical findings unveil polaritonic phenomena as a promising route for the characterization, tailoring, and optimization of light-harvesting mechanisms in natural and artificial photosynthetic processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rocío Sáez-Blázquez
- Departamento
de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada and Condensed
Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC), Universidad
Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Johannes Feist
- Departamento
de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada and Condensed
Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC), Universidad
Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Elisabet Romero
- Institute
of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), Barcelona Institute of Science
and Technology (BIST), E-43007 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Antonio I. Fernández-Domínguez
- Departamento
de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada and Condensed
Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC), Universidad
Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Francisco J. García-Vidal
- Departamento
de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada and Condensed
Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC), Universidad
Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
- Donostia
International Physics Center (DIPC), E-20018 Donostia−San Sebastián, Spain
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5
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Jang SJ. Robust and Fragile Quantum Effects in the Transfer Kinetics of Delocalized Excitons between B850 Units of LH2 Complexes. J Phys Chem Lett 2018; 9:6576-6583. [PMID: 30383380 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b02641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Aggregates of light harvesting 2 (LH2) complexes form the major exciton-relaying domain in the photosynthetic unit of purple bacteria. Application of a generalized master equation to pairs of the B850 units of LH2 complexes, where excitons predominantly reside, provides quantitative information on how the inter-LH2 exciton transfer depends on the distance, relative rotational angle, and the relative energies of the two LH2s. The distance dependence demonstrates significant enhancement of the rate due to quantum delocalization of excitons, the qualitative nature of which remains robust against the disorder. The angle dependence reflects isotropic nature of exciton transfer, which remains similar for the ensemble of disorder. The variation of the rate on relative excitation energies of LH2 exhibits resonance peaks, which, however, is fragile as the disorder becomes significant. Overall, the average transfer times between two LH2s are estimated to be in the range of 4-25 ps for physically plausible inter-LH2 distances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seogjoo J Jang
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry , Queens College, City University of New York , 65-30 Kissena Boulevard , Queens , New York 11367 , United States
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6
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Wertnik M, Chin A, Nori F, Lambert N. Optimizing co-operative multi-environment dynamics in a dark-state-enhanced photosynthetic heat engine. J Chem Phys 2018; 149:084112. [PMID: 30193490 DOI: 10.1063/1.5040898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
We analyze the role of coherent, non-perturbative system-bath interactions in a photosynthetic heat engine. Using the reaction-coordinate formalism to describe the vibrational phonon-environment in the engine, we analyze the efficiency around an optimal parameter regime predicted in earlier studies. We show that, in the limit of high-temperature photon irradiation, the phonon-assisted population transfer between bright and dark states is suppressed due to dephasing from the photon environment, even in the Markov limit where we expect the influence of each bath to have an independent and additive effect on the dynamics. Manipulating the phonon bath properties via its spectral density enables us to identify both optimal low- and high-frequency regimes where the suppression can be removed. This suppression of transfer and its removal suggests that it is important to consider carefully the non-perturbative and cooperative effects of system-bath environments in designing artificial photosynthetic systems and also that manipulating inter-environmental interactions could provide a new multidimensional "lever" by which photocells and other types of quantum devices can be optimized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melina Wertnik
- Theoretical Quantum Physics Laboratory, RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Alex Chin
- Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, Sorbonne Université, 4 Place Jussieu, Bote Courrier 840, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Franco Nori
- Theoretical Quantum Physics Laboratory, RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Neill Lambert
- Theoretical Quantum Physics Laboratory, RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
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7
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Ondarse-Alvarez D, Kömürlü S, Roitberg AE, Pierdominici-Sottile G, Tretiak S, Fernandez-Alberti S, Kleiman VD. Ultrafast electronic energy relaxation in a conjugated dendrimer leading to inter-branch energy redistribution. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2016; 18:25080-25089. [DOI: 10.1039/c6cp04448d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Dendrimers are arrays of coupled chromophores, where the energy of each unit depends on its structure and conformation.
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Affiliation(s)
- D. Ondarse-Alvarez
- Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnologia
- Universidad Nacional de Quilmes/CONICET
- B1876BXD Bernal
- Argentina
| | - S. Kömürlü
- Department of Chemistry
- University of Florida
- Gainesville
- USA
| | - A. E. Roitberg
- Department of Chemistry
- University of Florida
- Gainesville
- USA
| | - G. Pierdominici-Sottile
- Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnologia
- Universidad Nacional de Quilmes/CONICET
- B1876BXD Bernal
- Argentina
| | - S. Tretiak
- Theoretical Division
- Center for Nonlinear Studies (CNLS)
- and Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Los Alamos
| | - S. Fernandez-Alberti
- Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnologia
- Universidad Nacional de Quilmes/CONICET
- B1876BXD Bernal
- Argentina
| | - V. D. Kleiman
- Department of Chemistry
- University of Florida
- Gainesville
- USA
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8
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Schroeder CA, Caycedo-Soler F, Huelga SF, Plenio MB. Optical Signatures of Quantum Delocalization over Extended Domains in Photosynthetic Membranes. J Phys Chem A 2015; 119:9043-50. [PMID: 26256512 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.5b04804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The prospect of coherent dynamics and excitonic delocalization across several light-harvesting structures in photosynthetic membranes is of considerable interest, but challenging to explore experimentally. Here we demonstrate theoretically that the excitonic delocalization across extended domains involving several light-harvesting complexes can lead to unambiguous signatures in the optical response, specifically, linear absorption spectra. We characterize, under experimentally established conditions of molecular assembly and protein-induced inhomogeneities, the optical absorption in these arrays from polarized and unpolarized excitation, and demonstrate that it can be used as a diagnostic tool to determine the resonance coupling between iso-energetic light-harvesting structures. The knowledge of these couplings would then provide further insight into the dynamical properties of transfer, such as facilitating the accurate determination of Förster rates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher A Schroeder
- Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Ulm , Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, D-89069 Ulm, Germany.,Joint Quantum Institute, Department of Physics, University of Maryland and National Institute of Standards and Technology , College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
| | - Felipe Caycedo-Soler
- Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Ulm , Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, D-89069 Ulm, Germany
| | - Susana F Huelga
- Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Ulm , Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, D-89069 Ulm, Germany
| | - Martin B Plenio
- Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Ulm , Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, D-89069 Ulm, Germany
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9
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Galindo JF, Atas E, Altan A, Kuroda DG, Fernandez-Alberti S, Tretiak S, Roitberg AE, Kleiman VD. Dynamics of Energy Transfer in a Conjugated Dendrimer Driven by Ultrafast Localization of Excitations. J Am Chem Soc 2015; 137:11637-44. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b04075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Johan F. Galindo
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States
| | - Evrim Atas
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States
| | | | | | | | - Sergei Tretiak
- Theoretical
Division, Center for Nonlinear Studies (CNLS) and Center for integrated
Nanotechnologies (CINT), Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, United States
| | - Adrian E. Roitberg
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States
| | - Valeria D. Kleiman
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States
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10
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Chandler DE, Strümpfer J, Sener M, Scheuring S, Schulten K. Light harvesting by lamellar chromatophores in Rhodospirillum photometricum. Biophys J 2015; 106:2503-10. [PMID: 24896130 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2014.04.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2014] [Revised: 04/10/2014] [Accepted: 04/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Purple photosynthetic bacteria harvest light using pigment-protein complexes which are often arranged in pseudo-organelles called chromatophores. A model of a chromatophore from Rhodospirillum photometricum was constructed based on atomic force microscopy data. Molecular-dynamics simulations and quantum-dynamics calculations were performed to characterize the intercomplex excitation transfer network and explore the interplay between close-packing and light-harvesting efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle E Chandler
- Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
| | - Johan Strümpfer
- Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
| | - Melih Sener
- Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
| | - Simon Scheuring
- U1006 INSERM, Aix-Marseille Université, Parc Scientifique et Technologique de Luminy, 163 avenue de Luminy, 13009 Marseille, France
| | - Klaus Schulten
- Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois.
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11
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Cartron ML, Olsen JD, Sener M, Jackson PJ, Brindley AA, Qian P, Dickman MJ, Leggett GJ, Schulten K, Neil Hunter C. Integration of energy and electron transfer processes in the photosynthetic membrane of Rhodobacter sphaeroides. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOENERGETICS 2014; 1837:1769-80. [PMID: 24530865 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2014.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2013] [Revised: 02/03/2014] [Accepted: 02/05/2014] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Photosynthesis converts absorbed solar energy to a protonmotive force, which drives ATP synthesis. The membrane network of chlorophyll-protein complexes responsible for light absorption, photochemistry and quinol (QH2) production has been mapped in the purple phototrophic bacterium Rhodobacter (Rba.) sphaeroides using atomic force microscopy (AFM), but the membrane location of the cytochrome bc1 (cytbc1) complexes that oxidise QH2 to quinone (Q) to generate a protonmotive force is unknown. We labelled cytbc1 complexes with gold nanobeads, each attached by a Histidine10 (His10)-tag to the C-terminus of cytc1. Electron microscopy (EM) of negatively stained chromatophore vesicles showed that the majority of the cytbc1 complexes occur as dimers in the membrane. The cytbc1 complexes appeared to be adjacent to reaction centre light-harvesting 1-PufX (RC-LH1-PufX) complexes, consistent with AFM topographs of a gold-labelled membrane. His-tagged cytbc1 complexes were retrieved from chromatophores partially solubilised by detergent; RC-LH1-PufX complexes tended to co-purify with cytbc1 whereas LH2 complexes became detached, consistent with clusters of cytbc1 complexes close to RC-LH1-PufX arrays, but not with a fixed, stoichiometric cytbc1-RC-LH1-PufX supercomplex. This information was combined with a quantitative mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of the RC, cytbc1, ATP synthase, cytaa3 and cytcbb3 membrane protein complexes, to construct an atomic-level model of a chromatophore vesicle comprising 67 LH2 complexes, 11 LH1-RC-PufX dimers & 2 RC-LH1-PufX monomers, 4 cytbc1 dimers and 2 ATP synthases. Simulation of the interconnected energy, electron and proton transfer processes showed a half-maximal ATP turnover rate for a light intensity equivalent to only 1% of bright sunlight. Thus, the photosystem architecture of the chromatophore is optimised for growth at low light intensities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michaël L Cartron
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | - John D Olsen
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | - Melih Sener
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Philip J Jackson
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK; ChELSI Institute, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK
| | - Amanda A Brindley
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | - Pu Qian
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | - Mark J Dickman
- ChELSI Institute, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK
| | - Graham J Leggett
- Department of Chemistry, University of Sheffield, Brook Hill, Sheffield S3 7HF, UK
| | - Klaus Schulten
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - C Neil Hunter
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
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12
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Johnson N, Zhao G, Caycedo F, Manrique P, Qi H, Rodriguez F, Quiroga L. Extreme alien light allows survival of terrestrial bacteria. Sci Rep 2013; 3:2198. [PMID: 23852157 PMCID: PMC3711049 DOI: 10.1038/srep02198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2013] [Accepted: 06/24/2013] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Photosynthetic organisms provide a crucial coupling between the Sun's energy and metabolic processes supporting life on Earth. Searches for extraterrestrial life focus on seeking planets with similar incident light intensities and environments. However the impact of abnormal photon arrival times has not been considered. Here we present the counterintuitive result that broad classes of extreme alien light could support terrestrial bacterial life whereas sources more similar to our Sun might not. Our detailed microscopic model uses state-of-the-art empirical inputs including Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) images. It predicts a highly nonlinear survivability for the basic lifeform Rsp. Photometricum whereby toxic photon feeds get converted into a benign metabolic energy supply by an interplay between the membrane's spatial structure and temporal excitation processes. More generally, our work suggests a new handle for manipulating terrestrial photosynthesis using currently-available extreme value statistics photon sources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neil Johnson
- Physics Department, University of Miami, Florida FL 33126, U.S.A.
| | - Guannan Zhao
- Physics Department, University of Miami, Florida FL 33126, U.S.A.
| | | | - Pedro Manrique
- Physics Department, University of Miami, Florida FL 33126, U.S.A.
| | - Hong Qi
- Physics Department, University of Miami, Florida FL 33126, U.S.A.
| | - Ferney Rodriguez
- Departamento de Fisica, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogota, Colombia
| | - Luis Quiroga
- Departamento de Fisica, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogota, Colombia
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13
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Jang S. Theory of multichromophoric coherent resonance energy transfer: A polaronic quantum master equation approach. J Chem Phys 2011; 135:034105. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3608914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
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14
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