title: Singlet-singlet annihilation kinetics in aggregates and trimers of LHCII.
abstract: Singlet-singlet annihilation experiments have been performed on trimeric and aggregated light-harvesting complex II (LHCII) using picosecond spectroscopy to study spatial equilibration times in LHCII preparations, complementing the large amount of data on spectral equilibration available in literature. The annihilation kinetics for trimers can well be described by a statistical approach, and an annihilation rate of (24 ps)(-1) is obtained. In contrast, the annihilation kinetics for aggregates can well be described by a kinetic approach over many hundreds of picoseconds, and it is shown that there is no clear distinction between inter- and intratrimer transfer of excitation energy. With this approach, an annihilation rate of (16 ps)(-1) is obtained after normalization of the annihilation rate per trimer. It is shown that the spatial equilibration in trimeric LHCII between chlorophyll a molecules occurs on a time scale that is an order of magnitude longer than in Photosystem I-core, after correcting for the different number of chlorophyll a molecules in both systems. The slow transfer in LHCII is possibly an important factor in determining excitation trapping in Photosystem II, because it contributes significantly to the overall trapping time.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands. vbarzda@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Barzda
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gulbinas
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kananavicius
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cervinskas
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: van Amerongen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: van Grondelle
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Valkunas
mesh_terms: D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000737:chemistry; D000077194:Chlorophyll A; D019281:Dimerization; D007700:Kinetics; D008027:Light; D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D018532:Pisum sativum / Q000737:chemistry; D017785:Photons; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000737:chemistry*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes; D002734:Chlorophyll; D011494:Protein Kinases; C120337:light-harvesting complex II kinase; D000077194:Chlorophyll A