Cited by 120Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical StudiesPhotosynthetic Processes and MechanismsPhotochemistry and Electron Transfer Studies

Single-Molecule Fluorescence Spectroscopy of Photosynthetic Systems

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Kondo, Toru, Chen, Wei Jia, Schlau-Cohen, Gabriela S.·2017·Chemical Reviews

Abstract

Photosynthesis begins when a network of pigment-protein complexes captures solar energy and transports it to the reaction center, where charge separation occurs. When necessary (under low light conditions), photosynthetic organisms perform this energy transport and charge separation with near unity quantum efficiency. Remarkably, this high efficiency is maintained under physiological conditions, which include thermal fluctuations of the pigment-protein complexes and changing local environments. These conditions introduce multiple types of heterogeneity in the pigment-protein complexes, including structural heterogeneity, energetic heterogeneity, and functional heterogeneity. Understanding how photosynthetic light-harvesting functions in the face of these fluctuations requires understanding this heterogeneity, which, in turn, requires characterization of individual pigment-protein complexes. Single-molecule spectroscopy has the power to probe individual complexes. In this review, we present an overview of the common techniques for single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy applied to photosynthetic systems and describe selected experiments on these systems. We discuss how these experiments provide a new understanding of the impact of heterogeneity on light harvesting and thus how these systems are optimized to capture sunlight under physiological conditions.

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  • Developments in experimental techniques such as ultrafast spectroscopy, single molecule spectroscopy, time-resolved microscopy and single particle imaging have enabled study of biological dynamics on increasingly small length and time scales, revealing processes necessary for living function that depend on a delicate interplay between quantum and classical physical effects.

    “Recently, developments in experimental techniques such as ultrafast spectroscopy [6], single molecule spectroscopy [7 -11], timeresolved microscopy [12 -14] and single particle imaging [15 -18] have enabled us to study biological dynamics on increasingly small length and time scales, revealing a variety of processes necessary for the function of the living system that depend on a delicate interpl”

    From The future of quantum biology (2018) · cites this paper as [9]

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  1. van Amerongen, H.; Valkunas, L.; van Grondelle, R. Photo- synthetic Excitons; World Scientific: Singapore, 2000.
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  10. Pedersen, M. Ø.; Pham, L.; Steensgaard, D. B.; Miller, M. A Reconstituted Light-Harvesting Complex from the Green Sulfur Bacterium Chlorobium Tepidum Containing CsmA and Bacterio- chlorophyll A. Biochemistry 2008, 47, 1435-1441. (298

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Authors
Kondo, T., Chen, W. J., & Schlau-Cohen, G. S.
Affiliations
  • Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge Massachusetts 02139, United States
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
Venue
Chemical Reviews
Published
2017-01-10
Volume
117
Issue
2
Pages
860-898
ISSN
  • 0009-2665 (ISSN-L)
  • 1520-6890
OpenAlex
W2568620643
Cited by
120
References
320
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 9
FWCI
0.87
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Chemical Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation (Excellence in Biomedical Research Award)
  • Basic Energy Sciences (Center for Excitonics/DE-SC0001088)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms
  • Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Physical and Theoretical Chemistry › Photochemistry and Electron Transfer Studies
Keywords
photosynthesis, light-harvesting complexes, single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy, pigment-protein complexes, structural heterogeneity, energetic heterogeneity, functional heterogeneity, thermal fluctuations, energy transport, charge separation, reaction center, quantum efficiency, low-light adaptation
MeSH terms
Photosynthesis, Pigments, Biological, Proteins, Spectrometry, Fluorescence

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