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Govindjee G, Amesz B, Garab G, Stirbet A. Remembering Jan Amesz (1934-2001): a great gentleman, a major discoverer, and an internationally renowned biophysicist of both oxygenic and anoxygenic photosynthesis a. PHOTOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH 2024; 160:125-142. [PMID: 38687462 DOI: 10.1007/s11120-024-01102-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
We present here the research contributions of Jan Amesz (1934-2001) on deciphering the details of the early physico-chemical steps in oxygenic photosynthesis in plants, algae and cyanobacteria, as well as in anoxygenic photosynthesis in purple, green, and heliobacteria. His research included light absorption and the mechanism of excitation energy transfer, primary photochemistry, and electron transfer steps until the reduction of pyridine nucleotides. Among his many discoveries, we emphasize his 1961 proof, with L. N. M. Duysens, of the "series scheme" of oxygenic photosynthesis, through antagonistic effects of Light I and II on the redox state of cytochrome f. Further, we highlight the following research on oxygenic photosynthesis: the experimental direct proof that plastoquinone and plastocyanin function at their respective places in the Z-scheme. In addition, Amesz's major contributions were in unraveling the mechanism of excitation energy transfer and electron transport steps in anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria (purple, green and heliobacteria). Before we present his research, focusing on his key discoveries, we provide a glimpse of his personal life. We end this Tribute with reminiscences from three of his former doctoral students (Sigi Neerken; Hjalmar Pernentier, and Frank Kleinherenbrink) and from several scientists (Suleyman Allakhverdiev; Robert Blankenship; Richard Cogdell) including two of the authors (G. Garab and A. Stirbet) of this Tribute.
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Affiliation(s)
- Govindjee Govindjee
- Department of Plant Biology, Department of Biochemistry, and the Center of Biophysics & Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
| | - Bas Amesz
- Albertus Perkstraat 35, 1217 NL, Hilversum, The Netherlands
| | - Győző Garab
- Biological Research Centre, Institute of Plant Biology, HUN-REN, 6726, Szeged, Hungary
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, 71000, Ostrava, Czech Republic
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Wang XP, Yu B, Qi CH, Wang GL, Zou M, Zhang C, Yu LJ, Ma F. Energy Transfer and Exciton Relaxation in B880-B800-RC Complex through Two-Dimensional Electronic Spectroscopy. J Phys Chem Lett 2024; 15:3619-3626. [PMID: 38530255 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.4c00181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
The light-harvesting (LH) and reaction center (RC) core complex of purple bacterium Roseiflexus castenholzii, B880-B800-RC, are different from those of the typical photosynthetic unit, (B850-B800)x-B880-RC. To investigate the excitation flowing dynamics in this unique complex, two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy is employed. The obtained time constants for the exciton relaxation in B880, exciton relaxation in B800, B800 → B880 energy transfer (EET), and B880 → closed RC EET are 43 fs, 177 fs, 1.9 ps, and 205 ps, respectively. These time constants result in an overall EET efficiency similar to that of the typical photosynthetic unit. Analysis of the oscillatory signals reveals that while several vibronic coherences are involved in the exciton relaxation process, only one prominent vibronic coherence, with a frequency of 27 cm-1 and coupled to the B880 electronic transition, may contribute to the B800 → B880 EET process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiang-Ping Wang
- Photosynthesis Research Center, Key Laboratory of Photobiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Buyang Yu
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Chen-Hui Qi
- Photosynthesis Research Center, Key Laboratory of Photobiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Guang-Lei Wang
- Photosynthesis Research Center, Key Laboratory of Photobiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Meijuan Zou
- Photosynthesis Research Center, Key Laboratory of Photobiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
| | - Chunfeng Zhang
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Long-Jiang Yu
- Photosynthesis Research Center, Key Laboratory of Photobiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Fei Ma
- Photosynthesis Research Center, Key Laboratory of Photobiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
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Kim J, Lee HS, Kim CH. Observation of Coherent Symmetry-Breaking Vibration by Polarization-Dependent Femtosecond Spectroscopy. J Phys Chem B 2024; 128:1053-1060. [PMID: 38253009 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c08151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Understanding photoinduced chemical reactions beyond the Born-Oppenheimer paradigm requires a comprehensive examination of vibronic interactions. Although femtosecond studies have unveiled the influence of vibrational modes strongly coupled to ultrafast intramolecular reactions in the excited state, they often lack direct observations of how vibrations modulate electronic properties due to the rapid disappearance of reactants. To address this gap, our research investigates the dynamics of photoexcited molecules that do not react. Specifically, we focus on the coherent librational motion of molecular transition dipole moments, discovering that the coherent libration primarily originates from symmetry-breaking components in vibronically excited vibrational modes. Symmetry breaking motion can significantly impact the excited-state dynamics of highly symmetric molecules, potentially leading to nonadiabatic transitions. In essence, the data analysis framework introduced in this study can be harnessed to uncover potential reactivity in photoexcited molecules, further enhancing our understanding of the mechanisms governing these reactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- JunWoo Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyun Seok Lee
- Department of Advanced Materials Chemistry, Korea University, Sejong 30019, Republic of Korea
| | - Chul Hoon Kim
- Department of Advanced Materials Chemistry, Korea University, Sejong 30019, Republic of Korea
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Wang D, Fiebig OC, Harris D, Toporik H, Ji Y, Chuang C, Nairat M, Tong AL, Ogren JI, Hart SM, Cao J, Sturgis JN, Mazor Y, Schlau-Cohen GS. Elucidating interprotein energy transfer dynamics within the antenna network from purple bacteria. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2220477120. [PMID: 37399405 PMCID: PMC10334754 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2220477120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023] Open
Abstract
In photosynthesis, absorbed light energy transfers through a network of antenna proteins with near-unity quantum efficiency to reach the reaction center, which initiates the downstream biochemical reactions. While the energy transfer dynamics within individual antenna proteins have been extensively studied over the past decades, the dynamics between the proteins are poorly understood due to the heterogeneous organization of the network. Previously reported timescales averaged over such heterogeneity, obscuring individual interprotein energy transfer steps. Here, we isolated and interrogated interprotein energy transfer by embedding two variants of the primary antenna protein from purple bacteria, light-harvesting complex 2 (LH2), together into a near-native membrane disc, known as a nanodisc. We integrated ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy, quantum dynamics simulations, and cryogenic electron microscopy to determine interprotein energy transfer timescales. By varying the diameter of the nanodiscs, we replicated a range of distances between the proteins. The closest distance possible between neighboring LH2, which is the most common in native membranes, is 25 Å and resulted in a timescale of 5.7 ps. Larger distances of 28 to 31 Å resulted in timescales of 10 to 14 ps. Corresponding simulations showed that the fast energy transfer steps between closely spaced LH2 increase transport distances by ∼15%. Overall, our results introduce a framework for well-controlled studies of interprotein energy transfer dynamics and suggest that protein pairs serve as the primary pathway for the efficient transport of solar energy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dihao Wang
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
| | - Olivia C. Fiebig
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
| | - Dvir Harris
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
| | - Hila Toporik
- School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ85281
- Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ85281
| | - Yi Ji
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
| | - Chern Chuang
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
| | - Muath Nairat
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
| | - Ashley L. Tong
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
| | - John I. Ogren
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
| | - Stephanie M. Hart
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
| | - Jianshu Cao
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
| | - James N. Sturgis
- LISM UMR 7255, CNRS and Aix-Marseille University, Marseille Cedex 913402, France
| | - Yuval Mazor
- School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ85281
- Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ85281
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Cupellini L, Qian P, Nguyen-Phan TC, Gardiner AT, Cogdell RJ. Quantum chemical elucidation of a sevenfold symmetric bacterial antenna complex. PHOTOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH 2023; 156:75-87. [PMID: 35672557 PMCID: PMC10070313 DOI: 10.1007/s11120-022-00925-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2022] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The light-harvesting complex 2 (LH2) of purple bacteria is one of the most studied photosynthetic antenna complexes. Its symmetric structure and ring-like bacteriochlorophyll arrangement make it an ideal system for theoreticians and spectroscopists. LH2 complexes from most bacterial species are thought to have eightfold or ninefold symmetry, but recently a sevenfold symmetric LH2 structure from the bacterium Mch. purpuratum was solved by Cryo-Electron microscopy. This LH2 also possesses unique near-infrared absorption and circular dichroism (CD) spectral properties. Here we use an atomistic strategy to elucidate the spectral properties of Mch. purpuratum LH2 and understand the differences with the most commonly studied LH2 from Rbl. acidophilus. Our strategy exploits a combination of molecular dynamics simulations, multiscale polarizable quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics calculations, and lineshape simulations. Our calculations reveal that the spectral properties of LH2 complexes are tuned by site energies and exciton couplings, which in turn depend on the structural fluctuations of the bacteriochlorophylls. Our strategy proves effective in reproducing the absorption and CD spectra of the two LH2 complexes, and in uncovering the origin of their differences. This work proves that it is possible to obtain insight into the spectral tuning strategies of purple bacteria by quantitatively simulating the spectral properties of their antenna complexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Cupellini
- Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Pisa, 56124, Pisa, Italy.
| | - Pu Qian
- Materials and Structure Analysis, Thermofisher Scientific, Achtseweg Nordic 5, 5651 GTC, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Tu C Nguyen-Phan
- Institute of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Alastair T Gardiner
- Laboratory of Anoxygenic Phototrophs, Centre Algatech, Novohradská 237 - Opatovický mlýn, 379 01, Třeboň, Czech Republic
| | - Richard J Cogdell
- Institute of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
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Cina JA. Dynamics of an excitation-transfer trimer: Interference, coherence, Berry's phase development, and vibrational control of non-adiabaticity. J Chem Phys 2023; 158:124307. [PMID: 37003733 DOI: 10.1063/5.0139174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/03/2023] Open
Abstract
We detail several interesting features in the dynamics of an equilaterally shaped electronic excitation-transfer (EET) trimer with distance-dependent intermonomer excitation-transfer couplings. In the absence of electronic-vibrational coupling, symmetric and antisymmetric superpositions of two single-monomer excitations are shown to exhibit purely constructive, oscillatory, and purely destructive interference in the EET to the third monomer, respectively. In the former case, the transfer is modulated by motion in the symmetrical framework-expansion vibration induced by the Franck-Condon excitation. Distortions in the shape of the triangular framework degrade that coherent EET while activating excitation transfer in the latter case of an antisymmetric initial state. In its symmetrical configuration, two of the three single-exciton states of the trimer are degenerate. This degeneracy is broken by the Jahn-Teller-active framework distortions. The calculations illustrate closed, approximately circular pseudo-rotational wave-packet dynamics on both the lower and the upper adiabatic potential energy surfaces of the degenerate manifold, which lead to the acquisition after one cycle of physically meaningful geometric (Berry) phases of π. Another manifestation of Berry-phase development is seen in the evolution of the vibrational probability density of a wave packet on the lower Jahn-Teller adiabatic potential comprising a superposition of clockwise and counterclockwise circular motions. The circular pseudo-rotation on the upper cone is shown to stabilize the adiabatic electronic state against non-adiabatic internal conversion via the conical intersection, a dynamical process analogous to Slonczewski resonance. Strategies for initiating and monitoring these various dynamical processes experimentally using pre-resonant impulsive Raman excitation, short-pulse absorption, and multi-dimensional wave-packet interferometry are outlined in brief.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey A Cina
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Oregon Center for Optical, Molecular, and Quantum Science, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA
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Bressan G, Jirasek M, Roy P, Anderson HL, Meech SR, Heisler IA. Population and Coherence Dynamics in Large Conjugated Porphyrin Nanorings. Chem Sci 2022; 13:9624-9636. [PMID: 36091893 PMCID: PMC9400675 DOI: 10.1039/d2sc01971j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2022] [Accepted: 07/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
In photosynthesis, nature exploits the distinctive electronic properties of chromophores arranged in supramolecular rings for efficient light harvesting. Among synthetic supramolecular cyclic structures, porphyrin nanorings have attracted considerable attention as they have a resemblance to naturally occurring light-harvesting structures but offer the ability to control ring size and the level of disorder. Here, broadband femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy, with pump pulses in resonance with either the high or the low energy sides of the inhomogeneously broadened absorption spectrum, is used to study the population dynamics and ground and excited state vibrational coherence in large porphyrin nanorings. A series of fully conjugated, alkyne bridged, nanorings constituted of between ten and forty porphyrin units is studied. Pump-wavelength dependent fast spectral evolution is found. A fast rise or decay of the stimulated emission is found when large porphyrin nanorings are excited on, respectively, the high or low energy side of the absorption spectrum. Such dynamics are consistent with the hypothesis of a variation in transition dipole moment across the inhomogeneously broadened ground state ensemble. The observed dynamics indicate the interplay of nanoring conformation and oscillator strength. Oscillatory dynamics on the sub-ps time domain are observed in both pumping conditions. A combined analysis of the excitation wavelength-dependent transient spectra along with the amplitude and phase evolution of the oscillations allows assignment to vibrational wavepackets evolving on either ground or excited states electronic potential energy surfaces. Even though porphyrin nanorings support highly delocalized electronic wavefunctions, with coherence length spanning tens of chromophores, the measured vibrational coherences remain localised on the monomers. The main contributions to the beatings are assigned to two vibrational modes localised on the porphyrin cores: a Zn–N stretching mode and a skeletal methinic/pyrrolic C–C stretching and in-plane bending mode. Pump wavelength-dependent, ultrafast excited state dynamics arising from inhomogeneous broadening and ground and excited state nuclear wavepackets were observed for a series of Zn porphyrin nanorings made of 10 to 40 repeating units.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Bressan
- School of Chemistry Norwich Research Park, University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ UK
| | - Michael Jirasek
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Chemistry Research Laboratory Oxford OX1 3TA UK
| | - Palas Roy
- School of Chemistry Norwich Research Park, University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ UK
| | - Harry L Anderson
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Chemistry Research Laboratory Oxford OX1 3TA UK
| | - Stephen R Meech
- School of Chemistry Norwich Research Park, University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ UK
| | - Ismael A Heisler
- Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Avenida Bento Gonçalves, 9500, CEP 91501-970 Porto Alegre Brazil
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