title: Light Absorption and Energy Transfer in the Antenna Complexes of Photosynthetic Organisms.
abstract: The process of photosynthesis is initiated by the capture of sunlight by a network of light-absorbing molecules (chromophores), which are also responsible for the subsequent funneling of the excitation energy to the reaction centers. Through evolution, genetic drift, and speciation, photosynthetic organisms have discovered many solutions for light harvesting. In this review, we describe the underlying photophysical principles by which this energy is absorbed, as well as the mechanisms of electronic excitation energy transfer (EET). First, optical properties of the individual pigment chromophores present in light-harvesting antenna complexes are introduced, and then we examine the collective behavior of pigment-pigment and pigment-protein interactions. The description of energy transfer, in particular multichromophoric antenna structures, is shown to vary depending on the spatial and energetic landscape, which dictates the relative coupling strength between constituent pigment molecules. In the latter half of the article, we focus on the light-harvesting complexes of purple bacteria as a model to illustrate the present understanding of the synergetic effects leading to EET optimization of light-harvesting antenna systems while exploring the structure and function of the integral chromophores. We end this review with a brief overview of the energy-transfer dynamics and pathways in the light-harvesting antennas of various photosynthetic organisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto , 80 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada.
authors.forename: Tihana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mirkovic
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Princeton University , Washington Road, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States.
authors.forename: Evgeny E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Ostroumov
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania , 231 S. 34th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States.
authors.forename: Jessica M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Anna
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Sciences, VU University Amsterdam , De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rienk
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: van Grondelle
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Center of Biophysics & Quantitative Biology, and Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , 265 Morrill Hall, 505 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.
authors.lastname: Govindjee
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto , 80 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada.|Department of Chemistry, Princeton University , Washington Road, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States.
authors.forename: Gregory D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Scholes
mesh_terms: D004735:Energy Transfer; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes / Q000378:metabolism; D010788:Photosynthesis; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000378:metabolism; D020560:Proteobacteria / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes; D010860:Pigments, Biological