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Study on energy transfer between carotenoid and chlorophyll a in cytochrome b 6 f complex from Bryopsis corticulans

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Abstract

The excitation energy transfer between carotenoid and chlorophyll (Chl) in the cytochrome b 6 f complex from Bryopsis corticulans (B. corticulans), in which the carotenoid is 9-cis-α-carotene, was investigated by means of fluorescence excitation and sub-microsecond time-resolved absorption spectroscopies. The presence of efficient singlet excitation transfer from α-carotene to Chl a was found with an overall efficiency as high as ∼ ∼24%, meanwhile the Chl a-to-α-carotene triplet excitation transfer was also evidenced. Circular dichroism spectroscopy showed that α-carotene molecule existed in an asymmetric environment and Chl a molecule had a certain orientation in this complex.

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Abbreviations

β-OG:

n-octyl-β-d-glucopyranoside

CD:

circular dichroism

Chl a :

chlorophyll a

Cyt b 6 f :

cytochrome b 6 f

PC:

plastocyanin

PMSF:

phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride

PQH2 :

dihydroplastoquinone

SDS:

sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

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Acknowledgements

We thank Professor Zhenpan Gao and Professor Guangce Wang (Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) for their assistance during the experiment. This work has been supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 39890390, 20273077 and 30370347).

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Author notes

  1. Bin-Xing Li & Ping Zuo

    Present address: Key Laboratory of Photosynthesis and Environmental Molecular Physiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nan Xincun 20, Xiangshan, 100093, Beijing, P.R. China

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Photosynthesis and Environmental Molecular Physiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nan Xincun 20, Xiangshan, 100093, Beijing, P.R. China

    Xiao-Bo Chen, Liang-Bi Li & Ting-Yun Kuang

  2. The State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1st North Street, Zhongguancun, 100080, Beijing, P.R. China

    Ping Zuo, Jian-Ping Zhang & Jian-Ping Zhang

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  1. Bin-Xing Li
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Correspondence to Liang-Bi Li or Jian-Ping Zhang.

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Bin-Xing Li and Ping Zuo contributed equally to this work.

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Li, BX., Zuo, P., Chen, XB. et al. Study on energy transfer between carotenoid and chlorophyll a in cytochrome b 6 f complex from Bryopsis corticulans . Photosynth Res 88, 43–50 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-005-9020-1

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