Photophysics of photosynthesis. Structure and spectroscopy of reaction centers of purple bacteria

Preresonance Raman and resonance Raman spectra of the primary donor (P) from reaction centers of the Rhodobacter (Rb.) sphaeroides R26 carotenoidless strain in the P and P+ states, respectively, were obtained at room temperature with 1064-nm excitation and a Fourier transform spectrometer. These spectra clearly indicate that the chromophore modes are observable over those of the protein with no signs of interference below 1800 cm-1. The chromophore modes are dominated by those of the bacteriochlorophylls (BChl a), and it is estimated that, in the P state, ca. 65% of the Raman intensity of the BChl a modes arises from the primary donor. This permits the direct observation of a vibrational spectrum of the primary donor at preresonance with the excitonic 865-nm band. The Raman spectrum of oxidized reaction centers in the presence of ferricyanide clearly exhibits bands arising from a BChl a+ species. The magnitude of the frequency shift of a keto carbonyl of neutral P from 1691 to 1717 cm-1 upon P+ formation strongly suggests that one BChl molecule in P+ carries nearly the full +1 charge. Our results indicate that the unpaired electron in P.+ does not share a molecular orbital common to the two components of the dimer on the time scale of the resonance Raman effect (ca. 10(-13) s).

Primary donor structure and interactions in bacterial reaction centers from near-infrared Fourier transform resonance Raman spectroscopy.

Light-induced changes in circular dichroism (CD) were studied in thylakoids isolated from spinach. The following features of CD responses occurring in the time range of 10 s to 1-3 min were noted: (i) The kinetics and relative amplitudes of the responses are similar over broad spectral ranges surrounding the major CD bands, i.e., between 670 and 760 nm and between 480 and 550 nm. This applies not only to randomly oriented samples but also to magnetically aligned membranes having markedly different CD spectra in the dark. (ii) Photosystem I is much more effective than photosystem I1 and can drive a 40-8096 decrease in CD signal relative to the dark control level. (iii) Photosystem I driven changes are fully inhibited by nigericin or NH4Cl but are largely insensitive to gramicidin. CD changes driven by photosystem 11, on the other hand, are sensitive to all of these reagents. (iv) The CD responses can be shown to originate in circular differential scattering rather than in circular differential absorbance. They can also be distinguished from light-induced, nonpolarized scattering changes. The data are qualitatively evaluated with respect to the theory of circular differential scattering of large helically organized macroaggregates, the size of which is commensurate with the wavelength of the measuring beam (Bustamante, C., Maestre, M. F., & Keller, D. (1985) Biopolymers 24, 1595-16121. The observed decrease of the large CD signal is ascribed to a partial loss of macrohelicity in the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein complex, in response to a proton gradient and/or surface electrical field generated most effectively by photosystem I.

Reversible Changes in Macroorganization of the Light-Harvesting Chlorophyll a/b Pigment-Protein Complex Detected by Circular Dichroism?

Single mutations of three amino acid residues in the vicinity of the primary electron donor, P, in the reaction center (RC) from Rhodobacter (Rb.) sphaeroides were constructed and characterized in order to study the effects of hydrogen-bonding on the physical properties of P. The mutations, Phe M197-->Tyr, Met L248-->Thr, and Ser L244-->Gly, represent single amino acid changes near P designed to introduce residues found in Rhodopseudomonas (Rps.) viridis and to, thus, probe the effects of nonconserved residues. The mutations were designed to change the nonconserved H-bonding interactions of P in Rb. sphaeroides, at the level of a C2 acetyl, a C9 keto, and a C10 ester carbonyl of P, respectively, to those present in Rps. viridis. The Fourier transform (pre)resonance Raman (FTRR) spectra of P, in its reduced and oxidized states, from reaction centers of these mutants were studied to determine modifications of H-bond interactions of the pi-conjugated C2 acetyl and C9 keto carbonyl groups and the C10 carbomethoxy ester carbonyl groups of P. The vibrational spectra of reduced P in the Met L248-->Thr and Ser L244-->Gly mutants reveal no evidence for changes in the H-bonding pattern of P; this suggests that for Rb. sphaeroides wild type, Ser L244 is not H-bonded to the C10 ester carbonyl of PL. The vibrational spectrum of reduced P from the Phe M197-->Tyr mutant compared to that of wild type can unambiguously be interpreted in terms of the formation of a new H-bond with an acetyl carbonyl of P, specifically PM. Correlating with the new H-bond, the Phe M197-->Tyr mutant exhibits an electronic absorption spectrum where the P absorption band is significantly perturbed. Intact cell and chromatophore photobleaching spectra of the same mutant indicate that the P absorption band has red-shifted by ca. 10 nm; no such behavior is observed for the other mutants. As well, the P-->BPheL electron transfer rate does not seem to strongly depend on the H-bonding of the C2 acetyl carbonyl of PM to a tyrosine residue. The EPR zero-field splitting parameters, E and D, of the primary donor triplet are only slightly modified in the mutant reaction centers, on the order of 1%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Structure, spectroscopic, and redox properties of Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centers bearing point mutations near the primary electron donor.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/chir.20805

John Melvin Olson

Papers

Circular dichroism of the 1300-nm band of oxidized reaction centers from Rhodopseudomonas viridis