Robust light harvesting by a noisy antenna

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11320%2F18%3A10389007" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11320/18:10389007 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1039/c7cp06139k" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1039/c7cp06139k</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c7cp06139k" target="_blank" >10.1039/c7cp06139k</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Robust light harvesting by a noisy antenna

Original language description

Photosynthetic light harvesting can be very efficient in solar energy conversion while taking place in a highly disordered and noisy physiological environment. This efficiency is achieved by the ultrafast speed of the primary photosynthetic processes, which is enabled by a delicate interplay of quantum effects, thermodynamics and environmental noise. The primary processes take place in light-harvesting antennas built from pigments bound to a fluctuating protein scaffold. Here, we employ ultrafast single-molecule spectroscopy to follow fluctuations of the femtosecond energy transfer times in individual LH2 antenna complexes of purple bacteria. By combining single molecule results with ensemble spectroscopy through a unified theoretical description of both, we show how the protein fluctuations alter the excitation energy transfer dynamics. We find that from the thirteen orders of magnitude of possible timescales from picoseconds to minutes, the relevant fluctuations occur predominantly on a biological timescale of seconds, i.e. in the domain of slow protein motion. The measured spectra and dynamics can be explained by the protein modulating pigment excitation energies only. Moreover, we find that the small spread of pigment mean energies allows for excitation delocalization between the coupled pigments to survive. These unique features provide fast energy transport even in the presence of disorder. We conclude that this is the mechanism that enables LH2 to operate as a robust light-harvester, in spite of its intrinsically noisy biological environment.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10301 - Atomic, molecular and chemical physics (physics of atoms and molecules including collision, interaction with radiation, magnetic resonances, Mössbauer effect)

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA17-22160S" target="_blank" >GA17-22160S: Quantum theory of excitation energy transfer and advanced optical spectroscopy: from small dye molecules to light-harvesting complexes</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2018

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics

ISSN

1463-9076

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

20

Issue of the periodical within the volume

6

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

13

Pages from-to

4360-4372

UT code for WoS article

000424357100054

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85041798203