Hu X, Damjanović A, Ritz T, Schulten K
Beckman Institute and Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 May 26;95(11):5935-41. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.11.5935.
Photosynthetic organisms fuel their metabolism with light energy and have developed for this purpose an efficient apparatus for harvesting sunlight. The atomic structure of the apparatus, as it evolved in purple bacteria, has been constructed through a combination of x-ray crystallography, electron microscopy, and modeling. The detailed structure and overall architecture reveals a hierarchical aggregate of pigments that utilizes, as shown through femtosecond spectroscopy and quantum physics, elegant and efficient mechanisms for primary light absorption and transfer of electronic excitation toward the photosynthetic reaction center.
光合生物利用光能为其新陈代谢提供能量,并为此开发了一种高效的阳光捕获装置。该装置在紫色细菌中进化形成的原子结构,是通过X射线晶体学、电子显微镜和建模相结合构建而成的。详细的结构和整体架构揭示了一种色素分级聚集体,通过飞秒光谱和量子物理学表明,它利用了优雅且高效的机制进行初级光吸收以及将电子激发传递至光合反应中心。