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Spectral heterogeneity and carotenoid-to-bacteriochlorophyll energy transfer in LH2 light-harvesting complexes from Allochromatium vinosum

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Abstract

Photosynthetic organisms produce a vast array of spectral forms of antenna pigment-protein complexes to harvest solar energy and also to adapt to growth under the variable environmental conditions of light intensity, temperature, and nutrient availability. This behavior is exemplified by Allochromatium (Alc.) vinosum, a photosynthetic purple sulfur bacterium that produces different types of LH2 light-harvesting complexes in response to variations in growth conditions. In the present work, three different spectral forms of LH2 from Alc. vinosum, B800-820, B800-840, and B800-850, were isolated, purified, and examined using steady-state absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, and ultrafast time-resolved absorption spectroscopy. The pigment composition of the LH2 complexes was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography, and all were found to contain five carotenoids: lycopene, anhydrorhodovibrin, spirilloxanthin, rhodopin, and rhodovibrin. Spectral reconstructions of the absorption and fluorescence excitation spectra based on the pigment composition revealed significantly more spectral heterogeneity in these systems compared to LH2 complexes isolated from other species of purple bacteria. The data also revealed the individual carotenoid-to-bacteriochlorophyll energy transfer efficiencies which were correlated with the kinetic data from the ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopic experiments. This series of LH2 complexes allows a systematic exploration of the factors that determine the spectral properties of the bound pigments and control the rate and efficiency of carotenoid-to-bacteriochlorophyll energy transfer.

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Abbreviations

BChl:

Bacteriochlorophyll

CD:

Circular dichroism

DADS:

Decay-associated difference spectra

DDM:

Sodium dodecyl maltoside

DMSO:

Dimethyl sulfoxide

EADS:

Evolution-associated decay spectra

ESA:

Excited state absorption

HPLC:

High-performance liquid chromatography

LH2:

Light-harvesting complex 2

NIR:

Near-infrared

OD:

Optical density

TA:

Transient absorption

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Drs. Tomáš Polívka and Jürgen Köhler for helpful discussions. Work in the laboratory of H.A.F. was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (MCB-1243565) and the University of Connecticut Research Foundation. Funding for the work performed in the laboratory of R.J.C. was provided by BBSRC. K.H. grew and harvested the Alc. vinosum cells and prepared the LH2 pigment-protein complexes, and D.M.N. performed the ultrafast experiments in the NIR spectral region using support from the Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center (PARC), an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award Number DE-SC0001035.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Connecticut, 55 North Eagleville Road, Storrs, CT, 06269-3060, USA

    Nikki M. Magdaong, Amy M. LaFountain & Harry A. Frank

  2. Institute of Molecular Cell and Systems Biology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

    Kirsty Hacking & Richard J. Cogdell

  3. Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Dariusz M. Niedzwiedzki

  4. Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, 2152 Hillside Road, Storrs, CT, 06269-3046, USA

    George N. Gibson

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  1. Nikki M. Magdaong
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Correspondence to Harry A. Frank.

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Magdaong, N.M., LaFountain, A.M., Hacking, K. et al. Spectral heterogeneity and carotenoid-to-bacteriochlorophyll energy transfer in LH2 light-harvesting complexes from Allochromatium vinosum . Photosynth Res 127, 171–187 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-015-0165-2

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