Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, via A. Ferrata 9, 27100, Pavia, Italy.
Nat Commun. 2020 Mar 10;11(1):1295. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-15074-6.
Plants prevent photodamage under high light by dissipating excess energy as heat. Conformational changes of the photosynthetic antenna complexes activate dissipation by leveraging the sensitivity of the photophysics to the protein structure. The mechanisms of dissipation remain debated, largely due to two challenges. First, because of the ultrafast timescales and large energy gaps involved, measurements lacked the temporal or spectral requirements. Second, experiments have been performed in detergent, which can induce non-native conformations, or in vivo, where contributions from homologous antenna complexes cannot be disentangled. Here, we overcome both challenges by applying ultrabroadband two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy to the principal antenna complex, LHCII, in a near-native membrane. Our data provide evidence that the membrane enhances two dissipative pathways, one of which is a previously uncharacterized chlorophyll-to-carotenoid energy transfer. Our results highlight the sensitivity of the photophysics to local environment, which may control the balance between light harvesting and dissipation in vivo.
植物通过将多余的能量以热量的形式耗散来防止高光下的光损伤。光合作用天线复合物的构象变化通过利用光物理对蛋白质结构的敏感性来激活耗散。由于涉及超快时间尺度和大能量间隙,耗散的机制仍存在争议,主要是因为两个挑战。首先,由于涉及超快时间尺度和大能量间隙,测量缺乏时间或光谱要求。其次,实验是在去污剂中进行的,去污剂会诱导非天然构象,或者在体内进行,在体内无法分离同源天线复合物的贡献。在这里,我们通过在近天然膜中应用超宽带二维电子光谱来克服这两个挑战。我们的数据提供了证据,证明膜增强了两种耗散途径,其中一种是以前未被表征的叶绿素到类胡萝卜素能量转移。我们的结果强调了光物理对局部环境的敏感性,这可能控制着体内光捕获和耗散之间的平衡。