Dresden 2011 – scientific programme
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MO: Fachverband Molekülphysik
MO 26: Poster: Biomolecules
MO 26.2: Poster
Thursday, March 17, 2011, 16:00–18:00, P2
Spectroscopy on Single RC-LH1 Complexes of the Photosynthetic Purple Bacterium Rhodopseudomonas acidophila — •Paul Böhm1, June Southall2, Richard Cogdell2, and Jürgen Köhler1 — 1Experimental Physics IV, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany — 2Institute of Molecular, Cell & Systems Biology, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland
The reaction center (RC) light-harvesting 1 (LH1) complexes form a basic building block in the photosynthetic apparatus of purple bacteria, where each LH1 complex directly surrounds a RC. In the course of the photosynthetic process a quinol molecule has to leave the RC and pass through the LH1 complex to be further converted by other protein complexes. There is an ongoing discussion in literature whether LH1 complexes include a gap in their structure, thus enabling quinol transport, or if LH1 complexes completely surround the RCs.
To date no structural details are known for the RC-LH1 complex of Rhodopseudomonas (Rps.) acidophila investigated in this work. By comparing spectral characteristics of single-molecule spectra from RC-LH1 complexes of Rps. acidophila with those of RC-LH1 complexes with a better known structure, we gained new insights into the unknown LH1-structure from Rps. acidophila. Since spectral features found for RC-LH1 complexes of Rps. acidophila resemble those of open LH1 complexes, we propose that the LH1 complex of Rps. acidophila also has a gap in its structure, rather than being completely closed.