The DOI matches its Crossref record; 33 of the 33 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Long-lived quantum coherence in photosynthetic complexes at physiological temperature
Open accessAbstract
Photosynthetic antenna complexes capture and concentrate solar radiation by transferring the excitation to the reaction center that stores energy from the photon in chemical bonds. This process occurs with near-perfect quantum efficiency. Recent experiments at cryogenic temperatures have revealed that coherent energy transfer—a wave-like transfer mechanism—occurs in many photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes. Using the Fenna–Matthews–Olson antenna complex (FMO) as a model system, theoretical studies incorporating both incoherent and coherent transfer as well as thermal dephasing predict that environmentally assisted quantum transfer efficiency peaks near physiological temperature; these studies also show that this mechanism simultaneously improves the robustness of the energy transfer process. This theory requires long-lived quantum coherence at room temperature, which never has been observed in FMO. Here we present evidence that quantum coherence survives in FMO at physiological temperature for at least 300 fs, long enough to impact biological energy transport. These data prove that the wave-like energy transfer process discovered at 77 K is directly relevant to biological function. Microscopically, we attribute this long coherence lifetime to correlated motions within the protein matrix encapsulating the chromophores, and we find that the degree of protection afforded by the protein appears constant between 77 K and 277 K. The protein shapes the energy landscape and mediates an efficient energy transfer despite thermal fluctuations.
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“An important development was the detection in 2010, independently by the Engel [44] and Scholes [45] groups, of similar coherent oscillations at physiological temperatures in FMO and light-harvesting complexes of two species of marine cryptophyte algae, respectively.”
From The future of quantum biology (2018) · cites this paper as [44]
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“quantum phenomena such as electron tunneling [6, 7] have been observed in biological systems”
From Vibrations, quanta and biology (2013) · cites this paper as [7]
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Principles of Nonlinear Optical Spectroscopy
Mukamel, S. (1995) · Cited by 4,640
Evidence for wavelike energy transfer through quantum coherence in photosynthetic systems
Engel, G. S., Calhoun, T. R., Read, E. L., Ahn, T.-K., Mančal, T., Cheng, Y.-C., Blankenship, R. E., & Fleming, G. R. (2007) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature05678 · Cited by 3,315
Self-citationMolecular mechanisms of photosynthesis
Blankenship, R. E. (2002) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9780470758472 · Cited by 2,291
Self-citationTwo-dimensional spectroscopy of electronic couplings in photosynthesis
Brixner, T., Stenger, J., Vaswani, H. M., Cho, M., Blankenship, R. E., & Fleming, G. R. (2005) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature03429 · Cited by 1,241
Self-citationEnvironment-assisted quantum walks in photosynthetic energy transfer
Mohseni, M., Rebentrost, P., Lloyd, S., & Aspuru-Guzik, A. (2008) · The Journal of Chemical Physics · doi:10.1063/1.3002335 · Cited by 1,189
Coherence Dynamics in Photosynthesis: Protein Protection of Excitonic Coherence
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Dephasing-assisted transport: quantum networks and biomolecules
Plenio, M. B., & Huelga, S. F. (2008) · New Journal of Physics · doi:10.1088/1367-2630/10/11/113019 · Cited by 1,002
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Theoretical examination of quantum coherence in a photosynthetic system at physiological temperature
Ishizaki, A., & Fleming, G. R. (2009) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0908989106 · Cited by 891
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Lessons from nature about solar light harvesting
Scholes, G. D., Fleming, G. R., Olaya-Castro, A., & van Grondelle, R. (2011) · Nature Chemistry · doi:10.1038/nchem.1145 · Cited by 1,915
H- and J-Aggregate Behavior in Polymeric Semiconductors
Spano, F. C., & Silva, C. (2014) · Annual Review of Physical Chemistry · doi:10.1146/annurev-physchem-040513-103639 · Cited by 1,158
Aspuru-Guzik, A., & Walther, P. (2012) · Nature Physics · doi:10.1038/nphys2253 · Cited by 952
Lambert, N., Chen, Y.-N., Cheng, Y.-C., Li, C.-M., Chen, G.-Y., & Nori, F. (2013) · Nature Physics · doi:10.1038/nphys2474 · Cited by 948
Using coherence to enhance function in chemical and biophysical systems
Scholes, G. D., Fleming, G. R., Chen, L. X., Aspuru-Guzik, A., Buchleitner, A., Coker, D. F., Engel, G. S., van Grondelle, R., Ishizaki, A., Jonas, D. M., et al. (2017) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature21425 · Cited by 668
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Metadata
- Authors
- Panitchayangkoon, G., Hayes, D., Fransted, K. A., Caram, J. R., Harel, E., Wen, J., Blankenship, R. E., & Engel, G. S.
- Affiliations
- University of Chicago (US)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2010-07-06
- Volume
- 107
- Issue
- 29
- Pages
- 12766-12770
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC2919932
- OpenAlex
- W2102296190
- Cited by
- 1,072
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 39 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 42 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 39 · 2021: 47 · 2020: 50 · 2019: 61 · 2018: 66 · 2017: 71 · 2016: 83 · 2015: 86 · 2014: 93 · 2013: 94 · 2012: 103
- FWCI
- 54.78
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Physical and Theoretical Chemistry › Photochemistry and Electron Transfer Studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms
- Keywords
- quantum coherence, photosynthetic antenna complexes, Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex, coherent energy transfer, thermal dephasing, physiological temperature, energy transfer efficiency
- MeSH terms
- Protein Conformation, Quantum Theory, Temperature, Time Factors, Microscopy, Scanning Tunneling, Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins
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