Berlin 2005 – scientific programme

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AKB: Biologische Physik

AKB 200: Poster Session II

AKB 200.5: Poster

Tuesday, March 8, 2005, 17:00–19:00, Poster TU C

Spectroscopic characterization of individual light-harvesting 2 complexes reconstituted into model membranes — •Martin Richter, Clemens Hofmann, Jürgen Baier, Silke Oellerich, and Jürgen Köhler — Experimental Physics IV, University of Bayreuth

Membrane-embedded pigment-protein complexes are the major players in photosynthesis. For a detailed study of these complexes, they are usually extracted from their native membrane, isolated and purified. The native membrane environment of these proteins is mimicked by detergent molecules in order to stabilize the complexes. However, this artificial protein environment can strongly affect the structural and spectroscopic properties of the pigment-protein complexes. Therefore, we reconstituted light-harvesting 2 (LH2) complexes, a photosynthetic pigment-protein complex from purple bacteria, into model membranes of phospholipids to study the influence of the protein environment on the structure and function of these complexes.