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Optical Spectroscopy of Individual Light-Harvesting Complexes from Purple Bacteria

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Part of the book series: Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration ((AIPH,volume 28))

Summary

The primary reactions of purple bacterial photosynthesis take place within two well characterized pigment-protein complexes, the core reaction center-light-harvesting 1 (RC-LH1) complex and the more peripheral light-harvesting 2 (LH2) complexes. These antenna complexes serve to absorb incident solar radiation and to transfer it to the RCs, where it is used to ‘power’ the photosynthetic redox reaction. This review describes how the use of single-molecule spectroscopy has contributed to a more detailed understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the energy transfer processes.

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Abbreviations

BChl:

bacteriochlorophyll

(EM)CCD:

(electron multiplying) charge coupled device

FWHM:

full width half maximum

LH:

light-harvesting

PSB:

phonon side band

PSU:

photosynthetic unit

Rba. :

Rhodobacter

RC:

reaction center

Rps. :

Rhodopseudomonas

Rsp. :

Rhodospirillum

ZPL:

zero phonon line

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Köhler, J. (2009). Optical Spectroscopy of Individual Light-Harvesting Complexes from Purple Bacteria. In: Hunter, C.N., Daldal, F., Thurnauer, M.C., Beatty, J.T. (eds) The Purple Phototrophic Bacteria. Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration, vol 28. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8815-5_44

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