Regulating the Energy Flow in a Cyanobacterial Light-Harvesting Antenna Complex

Ido Eisenberg*, Felipe Caycedo-Soler, Dvir Harris, Shira Yochelis, Susana F. Huelga, Martin B. Plenio, Noam Adir, Nir Keren, Yossi Paltiel

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Photosynthetic organisms harvest light energy, utilizing the absorption and energy-transfer properties of protein-bound chromophores. Controlling the harvesting efficiency is critical for the optimal function of the photosynthetic apparatus. Here, we show that the cyanobacterial light-harvesting antenna complex may be able to regulate the flow of energy to switch reversibly from efficient energy conversion to photoprotective quenching via a structural change. We isolated cyanobacterial light-harvesting proteins, phycocyanin and allophycocyanin, and measured their optical properties in solution and in an aggregated-desiccated state. The results indicate that energy band structures are changed, generating a switch between the two modes of operation, exciton transfer and quenching, achieved without dedicated carotenoid quenchers. This flexibility can contribute greatly to the large dynamic range of cyanobacterial light-harvesting systems. (Figure Presented).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1240-1247
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry B
Volume121
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 16 Feb 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 American Chemical Society.

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