Mapping the ultrafast flow of harvested solar energy in living photosynthetic cells

Dahlberg, Peter D.; Ting, Po -Chieh; Massey, Sara C.; Allodi, Marco A.; Martin, Elizabeth C.; Hunter, C. Neil; Engel, Gregory S.

doi:10.1038/s41467-017-01124-z

Title: Mapping the ultrafast flow of harvested solar energy in living photosynthetic cells

Journal Article · 17 October 2017 · Nature Communications

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01124-z · OSTI ID:1469984

Dahlberg, Peter D. ^[1]; Ting, Po -Chieh ^[1];

^[1]; Allodi, Marco A. ^[1]; Martin, Elizabeth C. ^[2];

^[2];

^[1]

The Univ. of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States)
Univ. of Sheffield, Sheffield (United Kingdom)

Photosynthesis transfers energy efficiently through a series of antenna complexes to the reaction center where charge separation occurs. Energy transfer in vivo is primarily monitored by measuring fluorescence signals from the small fraction of excitations that fail to result in charge separation. Here, we use two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy to follow the entire energy transfer process in a thriving culture of the purple bacteria, Rhodobacter sphaeroides. By removing contributions from scattered light, we extract the dynamics of energy transfer through the dense network of antenna complexes and into the reaction center. Simulations demonstrate that these dynamics constrain the membrane organization into small pools of core antenna complexes that rapidly trap energy absorbed by surrounding peripheral antenna complexes. The rapid trapping and limited back transfer of these excitations lead to transfer efficiencies of 83% and a small functional light-harvesting unit.

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Research Organization:: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC), Washington, D.C. (United States). Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center (PARC); Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0001035

OSTI ID:: 1469984

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1545601

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Vol. 8, Issue 1; Related Information: PARC partners with Washington University in St. Louis (lead); University of California, Riverside; University of Glasgow, UK; Los Alamos National Laboratory; University of New Mexico; New Mexico Corsortium; North Carolina State University; Northwestern University; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; University of Pennsylvania; Sandia National Laboratories; University of Sheffield, UK; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 37 works

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Turning the challenge of quantum biology on its head: biological control of quantum optical systems Lishchuk, Anna; Vasilev, Cvetelin; Johnson, Matthew P. Faraday Discussions, Vol. 216 https://doi.org/10.1039/c8fd00241j	journal	January 2019
Dissecting the cytochrome c2–reaction centre interaction in bacterial photosynthesis using single molecule force spectroscopy Vasilev, Cvetelin; Mayneord, Guy E.; Brindley, Amanda A. Biochemical Journal, Vol. 476, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1042/bcj20170519	journal	August 2019
Geometry Effects on Light‐Harvesting Complex's Light Absorption and Energy Transfer in Purple Bacteria Zeng, Lingyu; Liao, Zeyang; Wang, Xue‐hua Photochemistry and Photobiology, Vol. 95, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1111/php.13129	journal	July 2019
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Spatially-resolved Fluorescence-detected Two-dimensional Electronic Spectroscopy Probes Varying Electronic Couplings in Photosynthetic Bacteria Tiwari, Vivek; Acosta-Matutes, Yassel; Gardiner, Alastair T. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1802.04395	text	January 2018

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Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
solar (fuels)
photosynthesis (natural and artificial)
biofuels (including algae and biomass)
bio-inspired
charge transport
membrane
synthesis (novel materials)
synthesis (self-assembly)