Visualization of excitation energy transfer processes in plants and algae.
Development of the time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy in the pico-second time range and its application to the energy transfer processes in many photosynthetic organisms is reviewed here. This method enabled visualization of energy transfer processes by three-dimensional expression of fluorescence spectra and discrimination of kinetic components and spectral components. The second generation of the ultrafast fluorescence spectroscopy is the femto-second (fs) fluorescence up-conversion, and this has enabled analyses of the transfer processes from carotenoids to chlorophylls with a resolution of less than 100 fs. For future progress, a further development of the spectroscopy is indispensable as well as structural data at atomic resolution.
Mimuro
Mamoru
M
Department of Technology and Ecology, Hall of Global Environmental Research, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan, mamo_mi@bio.h.kyoto-u.ac.jp.