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Studies on excitation energy flow in the photosynthetic pigment system; Structure and energy transfer mechanism

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Abstract

Excitation energy flow in photosynthetic pigment systems is discussed in relation to structure of the system and transfer mechanism for each elementary process. Three typical examples for actual transfer processes are shown for the phycobilin system in cyanobacteria, the antenna system of photosynthetic bacteria and the Chla/c antenna system of brown algae. The main analytical method was the time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy in the picosecond time range. In general, static optical charactersitics are not the main reason for the transfer efficiency, but the structure of the system is a prerequisite for the transfer process. On the phycobilin system, theoretical investigation was compared with experimental analysis, which leads to the essential understanding of the transfer process in terms of quantum mechanics.

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Abbreviations

APC:

allophycocyanin

Bchl:

bacteriochlorophyll

CD:

circular dichroism

Chl:

chlorophyll

F685:

a representive expression of the fluorescence component located at 685 nm

FCPA:

fucoxanthin-chlorophyll protein assembly

LH:

light harvesting

LHC:

light harvesting complex

PBS:

phycobilisome

PC:

phycocyanin

PE:

phycoerythrin

PS:

photosystem

RC:

reaction center

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  1. National Institute for Basic Biology, Myodaiji, 444, Okazaki, Aichi

    Mamoru Mimuro

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  1. Mamoru Mimuro
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Recipient of the Botanical Society Award for Young Scientists, 1989.

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Mimuro, M. Studies on excitation energy flow in the photosynthetic pigment system; Structure and energy transfer mechanism. Bot Mag Tokyo 103, 233–253 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02489628

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