Time-resolved tryptophan fluorescence in photosynthetic reaction centers from Rhodobacter sphaeroides.

Tryptophan fluorescence of reaction centers isolated from Rhodobacter sphaeroides, both stationary and time-resolved, was studied. Fluorescence kinetics were found to fit best a sum of four discrete exponential components. Half of the initial amplitude was due to a component with a lifetime of congruent to 60 ps, belonging to Trp residues, capable of efficient transfer of excitation energy to bacteriochlorophyll molecules of the reaction center. The three other components seem to be emitted by Trp ground-state conformers, unable to participate in such a transfer. Under the influence of intense actinic light, photooxidizing the reaction centers, the yield of stationary fluorescence diminished by congruent to 1.5 times, while the number of the kinetic components and their life times remained practically unchanged. Possible implications of the observed effects for the primary photosynthesis events are considered.

Investigation of spatial relationships and energy transfer between complexes B800-850 and B890-RC from Chromatium minutissimum reconstituted into liposomes.

Spatial relationships between different pigment-protein complexes in the membranes of the purple photosynthetic bacterium, Chromatium minutissimum, have been studied. The possibility of restoring the function of efficient excitation energy transfer from bacteriochlorophyll molecules to the reaction centers in the system of soybean liposomes, reconstituted with pigment-protein complexes B800-850 and B890-RC from C. minutissimum, has been explored. The chemical cross-linking method, together with stationary and picosecond spectrally resolved fluorescence measurements were employed. It has been shown that after the incorporation of the complexes into the liposome membranes conditions for directed excitation energy transfer from the light-harvesting pigments to the reaction centers are created, which are less optimal, however, than those in the native state. Possible reasons are considered.

[Effect of dehydration on the primary picosecond stages of charge separation in Rhodospirillum rubrum]. / Vliianie obezvozhivaniia na pervuchnye pikosekundnye stadii razdeleniia zariadov u Rhodospirillum rubrum.

Effects of dehydration on the quantum yield of charge separation in the reaction centres, fluorescence and nanosecond recombination luminescence in R. rubrum chromatophores have been investigated. It has been shown that dehydration results in more than a 10 times decrease in the quantum efficiency of photosynthesis. Besides, photoinduced fluorescence changes practically disappear in dehydrated samples and the parameters of nanosecond luminescence substantially change. These observations indicate that strong dehydration causes a deterioration of the primary charge separation process at the early picosecond stages of excitation energy transduction into energy of separated charges. This is, probably, due to either changes in the dynamic characteristics of the reaction centre pigment-protein complex or alteration in the structure state (spacings and mutual orientations) of the primary reactants involved in the primary charge separation.

Short-lived delayed luminescence of photosynthesizing organisms. II. The ratio between delayed and prompt fluorescence as studied by the modulation method.

The ratio between the intensities of delayed and prompt fluorescence was studied for different photosynthetic objects under different conditions by modulation method. The method is based on excitation of luminescing objects by light, modulated harmonically, and on a combined study of phase shifts and demodulation coefficients of the luminescence as related to excitation light. The presence of intense delayed emissions was revealed in purple bacteria, Ectothiorhodospira shaposhinokovii, Rhodospirillum rubrum and Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides, in the micro- and nanosecond range. Under conditions of saturating light, their proportion was several percent of the total emission. The most striking phenomenon was observed under reducing conditions (addition of 1 . 10(-2) M Na2S2O4 to whole-cell suspensions of purple bacteria) where the intensity of the delayed emissions grew dramitically and became comparable to that of prompt fluorescence. The data obtained indicate that, at room temperature, reversal of some early stages of charge separation in bacterial reaction centres may proceed largely via the channel that includes generation of the reaction-centre bacteriochorophyll in the excited singlet state, followed by excitation-energy migration to antenna bacteriochlorophyll. The relation of these phenomena to the efficiency of solar energy utilization in photosynthetic apparatus is discussed.

Short-lived delayed luminescence of photosynthetic organisms. I. Nanosecond afterglows in purple bacteria at low redox potentials.

A combined study of emissions of purple bacteria Rhodospirillum rubrum, Ectothiorhodospira shaposhnikovii and Thiocapsa roseopersicina was performed under conditions of low potential. It has been shown that a considerable part of the emission represents a delayed luminescence with a lifetime of about 5 ns and an activation energy delta E = 0.05 +/- 0.03 eV. Intensity of this delayed luminescence is approximately equal to that of prompt fluorescence. It diminishes as temperature decreases and also as the intermediate acceptor I becomes reduced after prolonged illumination under low potential conditions. This luminescence represents a radiative decay of the intermediate state, PF, and the luminescence activation energy, delta E, reflects the energy barrier between P*-890 and PF. The value of this barrier determined in the present work is much lower than those obtained previously [3,4,26] for the free-energy release during the primary act of charge separation, basing on redox potential techniques. The reason for this discrepancy is discussed. Delayed luminescence in the picosecond time range is predicted to exist under conditions of active photosynthesis as a result of a small (approx. 0.05 eV) energy barrier between PF and the excited singlet state of reaction center bacteriochlorophyll.

[Intermediate states formed during discharge separation in the reaction centers of Rhodospirillum rubrum in the presence of a low-redox potential]. / Promezhutochnye sostoianiia, obrazuiushchiesia pri razdelenii zariadov v reaktsionnykh tsentrakh Rhodospirillum rubrum v usloviiakh nizkogo okislitel'nogo-vosstanovitel'nogo potentsiala.

The intermediate short-lived states arising in reaction centre preparations (RC) of purple bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum are investigated under the conditions of low redox potential. Excitation by 353 and 530 nm laser pulses produced two states characterized by optical absorption changes in the range of 350--650 nm and lifetimes: 10--30 ns for the first state and 2.5 +/- 0.5 microseconds for the second one. The first state is similar to the state PF, described previously by Parson et al. for RC from Rps. sphaeroides. Carotenoid extraction with isooctane resulted in changing the spectrum with tau = 2.5 microseconds and in the appearance of new absorption changes similar to those for the R state observed before in carotenoidless bacterial strains within microsecond time range. The comparison of the microsecond spectra with difference spectra (continuous light minus dark) of RC from R. rubrum in the range of 350--650 nm made it possible to identify the states with tau = 2.5 microseconds as carotenoid triplet states. The ratio of quantum yields of PR and carotenoid triplet states production was determined as being 1 : 1. The conclusion was made that triplet-triplet energy transfer from state PR to carotenoid is responsible for the production of carotenoid triplet states.