Comparative study of reaction centers from photosynthetic purple bacteria: electron paramagnetic resonance and electron nuclear double resonance spectroscopy.

Reaction centers (RCs) from four species of purple bacteria, Rhodobacter sphaeroides, Rhodobacter capsulatus, Rhodospirillum rubrum, and the recently discovered bacterium Rhodospirillum centenum, have been characterized by optical spectroscopy [Wang, S., Lin, X., Woodbury, N. W., & Allen, J. P. (1994) Photosynth. Res. (submitted for publication)] and magnetic resonance spectroscopy. All RCs contain a bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) a dimer as the primary donor. For Rb. sphaeroides and Rs. rubrum the donor QY optical band is at approximately 865 nm, compared to approximately 850 nm for Rb. capsulatus and Rs. centenum. The primary donor in the RCs can be converted between these two forms by the addition or removal of charged detergents. The electronic structure of the cation radical of the primary electron donor P+. was investigated in these species using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR), and electron nuclear triple resonance (TRIPLE) spectroscopy. The EPR line widths of P+. vary significantly and the ENDOR and Special TRIPLE spectra reveal drastic differences in the spin density distribution of the dimer for the different species. Reaction centers from Rb. sphaeroides and Rs. rubrum have a slightly asymmetric spin density distribution over the two halves of the dimer. The respective ratios are 2:1 and 1.6:1 in favor of the L-half of the BChl a dimer. In contrast, the spectra of P+. in reaction centers from Rb. capsulatus and Rs. centenum show an almost complete localization of the unpaired electron on the L-half of the dimer (ratio approximately 5:1).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)