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Phosphorescence study of chlorophyll d photophysics. Determination of the energy and lifetime of the photo-excited triplet state. Evidence of singlet oxygen photosensitization

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Abstract

Chlorophyll d (Chl d) is the major pigment in both photosystems (PSI and II) of the cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina, whose pigment composition represents an interesting alternative in oxygenic photosynthesis. While abundant information is available relative to photophysical properties of Chl a , the understanding of Chl d photophysics is still incomplete. In this paper, we present for the first time a characterization of Chl d phosphorescence, which accompanies radiative deactivation of the photoexcited triplet state of this pigment. Reliable information was obtained on the energy and lifetime of the Chl d triplet state in frozen solutions at 77 K using diethyl ether and aqueous dispersions of Triton X100 as solvents. It is shown that triplet Chl d is effectively populated upon photoexcitation of pigment molecules and efficiently sensitizes singlet oxygen phosphorescence in aerobic solutions under ambient conditions. The data obtained are compared with the previous results of the phosphorescence studies of Chl a and Pheo a, and their possible biological implications are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

Support of the Program “Molecular and cellular biology” of the Russian Academy of Science and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant #10-03-00750a) are acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. A.N. Bach Institute of Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Science, Leninskii pr., 33, Moscow, 119071, Russian Federation

    Konstantin V. Neverov & Alexander A. Krasnovsky Jr.

  2. Biology Department, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Vorobyevy Gory, Moscow, 119992, Russian Federation

    Konstantin V. Neverov & Alexander A. Krasnovsky Jr.

  3. Istituto di Biofisica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Celoria 26, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Stefano Santabarbara

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  1. Konstantin V. Neverov
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  2. Stefano Santabarbara
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  3. Alexander A. Krasnovsky Jr.
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Correspondence to Alexander A. Krasnovsky Jr..

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Neverov, K.V., Santabarbara, S. & Krasnovsky, A.A. Phosphorescence study of chlorophyll d photophysics. Determination of the energy and lifetime of the photo-excited triplet state. Evidence of singlet oxygen photosensitization. Photosynth Res 108, 101–106 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-011-9657-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-011-9657-x

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