We have performed low-temperature Stark spectroscopy on a variety of different LH2 complexes from four photosynthetic bacteria, with the aim of characterizing the electric field response of the B800 and B850 absorption properties as a function of the protein environment. The following LH2 complexes were investigated: B800-850 and B800-820 of Rhodopseudomonas (Rps) acidophila; B800-850, B800-840 (RTyr +13 fPhe), and B800-826 (RTyr +13 fPhe, RTyr +14 fLeu) of Rhodobacter (Rb.) sphaeroides; B800-850 and B800-830 (obtained at high LDAO) of Ectothiorhodospira sp.; and B800-850 of Rhodospirillum (Rsp.) molischianum. For all these cases the spectral blue shift of B850 has been assigned to the loss hydrogenbonding interaction with the acetyl carbonyl of bacteriochlorophyll a. |∆µ| values for the 850 nm bands as well as for the blue-shifted bands are all on the order of 3-4.5 D/f. The loss of hydrogen-bonding interactions has only small effects on |∆µ| in these complexes. The values of the difference polarizability, Tr(∆r), are large (600-1400 Å 3 /f 2 ). The results are discussed in terms of crystal-structure-based models for LH2, in which pigment-pigment and pigment-protein interactions are considered; strong pigment-pigment interactions were found to be especially important. The values of |∆µ| for the 800 nm band are small, 1.0-1.5 D/f for LH2 complexes from Rb. sphaeroides and Rps. acidophila. However, in Rsp. molischianum and Ectothiorhodospira sp. |∆µ| values are much larger, of the order of 3 D/f. The difference in the B800 band is assigned to the difference in orientation of the B800 pigments in Rsp. molischianum and Ectothiorhodospira sp., as compared to the Rps. acidophila and Rb. sphaeroides. Due to the difference in orientation, the interactions of the Bchl a with the surrounding protein and neighboring carotenoid pigments are also not identical.

The kinetics of primary electron transfer in membrane-bound Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centers (RCs) were measured on both wild-type (WT) and site-directed mutant RC's bearing mutations at the tyrosine M210 position. The tyrosine was replaced by histidine (H), phenylalanine (F), leucine (L), or tryptophan (W). A mutant with histidine at both the M210 and symmetry-related L181 positions (YM210H/FL181H) was also examined. Rates of primary charge separation were determined by both single and multiple wavelength pump−probe techniques. The time constants for the decay of stimulated emission in the membrane-bound mutant RC's were approximately 27 ps (F), 36 ps (L), 72 ps (W), 5.8 ps (H), and 4.2 ps (HH), compared with 4.6 ps in WT membrane-bound RC's. For all RC's, the decay of stimulated emission was found to be multiexponential, demonstrating that this phenomenon is not a consequence of the removal of the RC from the membrane. The source of the multiexponential decay of the primary donor excited state was examined, leading to the conclusion that a distribution in the driving force (ΔG) for electron transfer cannot be the sole parameter that determines the multiexponential character. Further measurements on membrane-bound mutant RC's showed that chemical prereduction of the acceptor quinones resulted in a significant slowing of the rate of primary charge separation. This was most marked in those mutants in which the rate of charge separation had already been slowed down as a result of mutagenesis at the M210 position. The phenomenon is discussed in terms of the Coulombic interaction between QA - and the other pigments involved in electron transfer and the influence of this interaction on the driving force for charge separation.

We present low-temperature Stark measurements on the core light-harvesting complex 1 (LH1) of purple bacteria and the B820 subunit derived from LH1, which is a protein bound Bchl a dimer. It was found that the B820 dimer exhibits only a small Stark signal dominated by a difference dipole moment between ground and excited states, |∆µ| = 1.4 D/f. The B820 complex can be reassociated to form LH1-like (B873) complexes, and this aggregation process induces a dramatic increase in the Stark parameters; |∆µ| = 3.7 D/f and Tr(∆r) = 1300-1800 Å 3 /f 2 . No significant differences were found between the B873 complex and the native LH1 antenna. The electrooptic properties of LH1 are compared to those of the special pair of the reaction center and the peripheral antenna complex, LH2, and discussed in the context of the ringlike structures observed for bacterial light-harvesting complexes. It is argued that the strong Stark signal of LH1 arises from mixing of charge transfer states with the exciton states of closely interacting pigments, the smallest possible unit being a Bchl a dimer. The absence of a strong Stark signal in B820 is most likely due to a small structural rearrangement of the protein bound dimer and the loss of interactions with neighboring pigments compared to the case of LH1.

Absorbance difference kinetics were measured on quinone-reduced membrane-bound wild type Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centers in the wavelength region from 690 to 1060 nm using 800 nm excitation. Global analysis of the data revealed five lifetimes of 0.18, 1.9, 5.1, and 22 ps and a long-lived component for the processes that underlie the spectral evolution of the system. The 0.18 ps component was ascribed to energy transfer from the excited state of the accessory bacteriochlorophyll (B*) to the primary donor (P*). The 1.9 ps component was associated with a state involving a BChl anion absorbing in the 1020 nm region. This led to the conclusion that primary electron transfer is best described by a model in which the electron is passed from P* to the acceptor bacteriopheophytin (H L ) via the monomeric bacteriochlorophyll (B L ), with the formation of the radical pair state P + B L-. An analysis assuming partial direct charge separation from B* [Van Brederode, M. E., Jones, M. R., and Chem. Phys. Lett. 268,[143][144][145][146][147][148][149] was also consistent with the data. Within the framework of a five component model, the 5.1 and 22 ps lifetimes were associated with charge separation and relaxation of the P + H L -radical pair state respectively, providing a description which adequately accounted for the complex kinetics of decay of P*. Alternatively, by assuming that the 5.1 and 22 ps components originate from a single component with a multi-exponential decay, a simpler analysis with only four components could be employed, resulting in only a small increase (7%) in the weighted root mean square error of the fit. In both descriptions part of the decay of P* proceeds with a lifetime of about 2 ps. The relative merits of these alternative descriptions of the primary events in light-driven electron transfer are discussed. Similar measurements on YM210H mutant reaction centers revealed four lifetimes of 0.2, 3.1, and 12 ps and a long-lived component. The 3.1 and 12 ps lifetimes are ascribed to multi-exponential decay of the P* state. The differences with the WT data are discussed.The reaction center (RC) of purple bacteria is responsible for the conversion of light energy into a transmembrane electrical potential. The structures of the RC from two species of purple bacteria, Rhodopseudomonas (Rps.) Viridis and Rhodobacter (Rb.) sphaeroides, have been solved to high resolution (1, 2). They reveal an assembly of protein subunits and redox cofactors that are arranged around an axis of approximate 2-fold symmetry. The primary donor of electrons (P) is a pair of excitonically-coupled bacteriochloropyll a (BChl) molecules positioned close to the periplasmic face of the protein. The remaining redox cofactors, two monomeric BChls (B), two molecules of bacteriopheophytin a (H), and two ubiquinones (Q), are arranged around the symmetry axis in two branches that span the membrane dielectric. Excitation of P initiates a sequence of electron transfer reactions that result in the separation of charge across the ...

The spectroscopic analysis of the antenna-deficient Rhodobacter sphaeroides strain RCO1 has been extended to an investigation of the kinetics and spectroscopy of primary charge separation. Global analysis of time-resolved difference spectra demonstrated that the rate of charge separation in membrane-bound reaction centers is slightly slower than in detergent-solubilized reaction centers from the same strain. A kinetic analysis of the decay of the primary donor excited state at single wavelengths was carried out using a high repetition rate laser system, with the reaction centers being maintained in the open state using a combination of phenazine methosulfate and horse heart cytochrome c. The kinetics of primary charge separation in both membrane-bound and solubilized reaction centers were found to be non-monoexponential, with two exponential decay components required for a satisfactory description of the decay of the primary donor excited state. The overall rate of charge separation in membrane-bound reaction centers was slowed if the primary acceptor quinone was reduced using sodium ascorbate. This slowing was caused, in part, by an increase in the relative amplitude of the slower of the two exponential components. The acceleration in the rate of charge separation observed on removal of the reaction center from the membrane did not appear to be caused by a significant change in the electrochemical properties of the primary donor. The influence of the environment of the reaction center on primary charge separation is discussed together with the origins of the non-monoexponential decay of the primary donor excited state.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract