Article
Plant Sciences
Collin J. Steen, Adrien Burlacot, Audrey H. Short, Krishna K. Niyogi, Graham R. Fleming
Summary: This study monitored non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) in intact cells throughout high light/dark cycles of various illumination periods and found that the dynamics of NPQ depend on the timescales of light fluctuations. LHCSR proteins play a major role during the light phases, while state transition activation contributes to NPQ response during dark phases.
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Marguerite Cinq-Mars, Guy Samson
Summary: This study revealed that the decline in CO2 assimilation at frequencies of 10 Hz and lower was associated with the formation of nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) and a restriction of electron flows toward PSI. The results suggest that under these conditions, there is a favoring of accumulation of harmless P-700(+) at the expense of decreased quantum yield of photochemistry for PSII.
Article
Plant Sciences
Z-C Yu, Y-N Luo, W-Y Shi, W. Lin, C-L Peng
Summary: In subtropical forests, young leaves of Castanopsis chinensis have higher anthocyanin content and related gene expression compared to Machilus chinensis, while the latter shows higher levels of antioxidants and nonphotochemical quenching in young leaves without anthocyanin accumulation. This study suggests that anthocyanins, antioxidants, and nonphotochemical quenching collectively play a positive role in photoadaptation of young leaves.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Heiko Lokstein, Gernot Renger, Jan P. Goetze
Summary: Chlorophylls, bacteriochlorophylls, and carotenoids are important pigments in photosynthetic organisms, playing a crucial role in light-harvesting and energy transformation. Recent research has made significant progress in understanding the structures and functions of light-harvesting complexes, reaction centers, and photosystems, highlighting the importance of these complexes in adapting to environmental conditions and regulating energy processes. The structural diversity in photosynthetic antenna designs is becoming increasingly apparent, with light-harvesting complexes commonly forming trimeric structures.
Article
Plant Sciences
Norma Valeria Ahumada-Fierro, Ernesto Garcia-Mendoza, Jose Miguel Sandoval-Gil, Christine Johanna Band-Schmidt
Summary: The study found that the toxic potential of Chattonella is associated with high ROS production, possibly due to a lack of effective photoprotection mechanisms. The three strains of Chattonella exhibited different NPQ and XC characteristics under light conditions, with ROS production related to XC-related thermal dissipation.
JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Pushan Bag
Summary: Photosynthesis is a major natural process that converts solar energy into chemical energy, carried out by a wide range of organisms from single cellular bacteria to higher plants. Different organisms possess different types of pigment protein complexes known as photosynthetic light-harvesting antennae, with simpler organisms typically having simple antennae and higher plants having complex systems for more efficient photosynthesis. The complexity of the antenna system is related to the ability of complex organisms to acclimate and adapt to fluctuating environmental conditions.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Dandan Lu, Yi Zhang, Aihong Zhang, Congming Lu
Summary: This review summarizes the light-signaling pathways involved in photoprotection mechanisms and discusses key questions in these processes, emphasizing the importance of research on light-signaling mechanisms in plants.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Davide Accomasso, Serra Arslancan, Lorenzo Cupellini, Giovanni Granucci, Benedetta Mennucci
Summary: Carotenoids, as natural pigments, play multiple important roles in photosynthesis, and their structure and photophysical properties play a key role in their functions.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Sheng-Pu Shuang, Jin-Yan Zhang, Zhu Cun, Hong-Min Wu, Jie Hong, Jun-Wen Chen
Summary: This study compares the photoprotective mechanisms among different light-demanding plants under dynamic light. The results show that sun plants have higher non-photochemical quenching and cyclic electron flow for photoprotection, while shade plants are more sensitive to transient dynamic light.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yuxi Niu, Dusan Lazar, Alfred R. Holzwarth, David M. Kramer, Shizue Matsubara, Fabio Fiorani, Hendrik Poorter, Silvia D. Schrey, Ladislav Nedbal
Summary: The study focused on the rapid regulation of photoprotective mechanisms in response to changing light in plants. It was found that PsbS regulation had the fastest response time to oscillating light with periods longer than 10 seconds. Processes involving violaxanthin de-epoxidase dampened changes in chlorophyll fluorescence in oscillation periods of 2 minutes or longer. Knocking out the PGR5/PGRL1 pathway strongly reduced variations in all monitored parameters, possibly due to congestion in the electron transport. The observed dynamics of photosystem I components were interpreted as being formed by thylakoid remodeling in slow light oscillations.
Article
Plant Sciences
Claire Seydoux, Mattia Storti, Vasco Giovagnetti, Anna Matuszynska, Erika Guglielmino, Xue Zhao, Cecile Giustini, Yufang Pan, Lander Blommaert, Jhoanell Angulo, Alexander Ruban, Hanhua Hu, Benjamin Bailleul, Florence Courtois, Guillaume Allorent, Giovanni Finazzi
Summary: Diatoms, successful phytoplankton clades, have the ability to adapt to changing light conditions due to their regulatory circuit involving the H+/K+ antiporter KEA3 and diadinoxanthin de-epoxidase. This circuit allows diatoms to efficiently respond to fast or slow changes in light environment, contributing to their thriving in different ocean provinces.
Review
Plant Sciences
N. Sharma, S. Nagar, M. Thakur, P. Suriyakumar, S. Kataria, A. K. Shanker, M. Landi, A. Anand
Summary: High light stress reduces photosynthetic rate in plants due to damage to the photosynthetic apparatus, photoinhibition of PSII, and/or damage to PSI. Nonphotochemical quenching and repair cycles help protect against photooxidative damage. High light stress also activates stress-responsive nuclear genes through specific metabolites and hormones. Alternate electron flow mechanisms offset excess electrons and mitigate the damage caused by light stress. Strategies such as decreasing antennae size, enhancing nonphotochemical quenching, and engineering ATP synthase can mitigate high light stress damage and improve photosynthetic rates.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sam Wilson, Eunchul Kim, Asako Ishii, Alexander Ruban, Jun Minagawa
Summary: The overexpression of photoprotective proteins in the det1-2 phot mutant of green algae enhances the nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) response, allowing the mutant to grow and survive under high light intensities that are lethal for wild-type cells. This mutant exhibits a smaller PSII cross-section and a detachment of LHCII antenna in the NPQ state. The study reveals the mechanism by which the overexpression of photoprotective proteins enables an efficient and effective photoprotective response in the det1-2 phot mutant.
JOURNAL OF PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND PHOTOBIOLOGY B-BIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Plant Sciences
Andrew J. Simkin, Leepica Kapoor, C. George Priya Doss, Tanja A. Hofmann, Tracy Lawson, Siva Ramamoorthy
Summary: Photosynthetic pigments, including chlorophyll, carotenoids, and phycobilins, are essential for efficient light absorption and adaptation to different environments in photosynthetic organisms. They play crucial roles in light harvesting, photoprotection, and deep water colonization.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Organic
Yi-Xiong Hu, Pei-Pei Jia, Chang-Wei Zhang, Xing-Dong Xu, Yanfei Niu, Xiaoli Zhao, Qian Xu, Lin Xu, Hai-Bo Yang
Summary: A dual-donor artificial light-harvesting system was efficiently constructed through hierarchical self-assembly approaches involving metal-ligand coordination interactions, host-guest interactions, and hydrophobic interactions, demonstrating higher energy transfer efficiency and antenna effects compared to a model single-donor artificial LHS. This research provides an efficient strategy for constructing artificial LHSs with high energy transfer efficiency and antenna effects.
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY FRONTIERS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Marvin Asido, Carsten Hamerla, Rebekka Weber, Maximiliane Horz, Madhava Shyam Niraghatam, Alexander Heckel, Irene Burghardt, Josef Wachtveitl
Summary: This study developed a bichromophoric system based on rhodamine and BODIPY for photoactivatable probes that can operate in the visible to near infrared region, demonstrating excellent two-photon properties and efficient energy transfer dynamics. The research also provided a design principle for a class of photocages that can be broadly activated between 500 and 900 nm.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Chahinez Abdellaoui, Volker Hermanns, Matiss Reinfelds, Maximilian Scheurer, Andreas Dreuw, Alexander Heckel, Josef Wachtveitl
Summary: This article investigates the photochemical reaction mechanism of fluorenols and finds that long-lived fluorenyl cations can affect the release of different leaving groups. It is discovered through various experimental methods that the stability of the cation is positively correlated with the release quantum yield. The research results of this article have important theoretical and practical significance for photochemical reactions.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Biophysics
Clara Nassrin Kriebel, Marvin Asido, Jagdeep Kaur, Jennifer Orth, Philipp Braun, Johanna Becker-Baldus, Josef Wachtveitl, Clemens Glaubitz
Summary: This study presents an extensive chemical shift resonance assignment of Krokinobacter eikastus rhodopsin 2 (KR2) within lipid bilayers using solid-state NMR spectroscopy. The H180A mutation was found to silence the response of KR2 to oxidized sodium, while proton pumping was observed in the absence of sodium. The study reveals specific long-range effects of the mutation along the sodium transfer pathway.
BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Eike Laube, Jakob Meier-Credo, Julian D. Langer, Werner Kuehlbrandt
Summary: The structure of mitochondrial complex I from Chaetomium thermophilum has been determined, revealing two distinct conformations and suggesting a universal mechanism of coupling electron transport to proton pumping.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jonathan Schiller, Eike Laube, Ilka Wittig, Werner Kuehlbrandt, Janet Vonck, Volker Zickermann
Summary: Cryo-electron microscopy was used to determine the structure of assembly intermediates associated with NDUFAF1. It was found that NDUFAF1, together with ND2, NDUFC2, and CIA84, forms the nucleation point of the assembly pathway. The central subunit ND3 is locked in an assembly-competent conformation by NDUFAF1, and major rearrangements of central subunits are required for complex I maturation.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Marvin Asido, Josef Wachtveitl
Summary: The discovery of the light-driven sodium pump Krokinobacter eikastus rhodopsin 2 (KR2) in 2013 challenged the belief that ion transport in microbial rhodopsins is limited to proton translocation. The unique retinal binding pocket in KR2, with its tight interaction between the retinal Schiff base and counterion D116, also has interesting implications for the photochemical pathway of the chromophore.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Maximilian Wranik, Tobias Weinert, Chavdar Slavov, Tiziana Masini, Antonia Furrer, Natacha Gaillard, Dario Gioia, Marco Ferrarotti, Daniel James, Hannah Glover, Melissa Carrillo, Demet Kekilli, Robin Stipp, Petr Skopintsev, Steffen Brunle, Tobias Muhlethaler, John Beale, Dardan Gashi, Karol Nass, Dmitry Ozerov, Philip J. M. Johnson, Claudio Cirelli, Camila Bacellar, Markus Braun, Meitian Wang, Florian Dworkowski, Chris Milne, Andrea Cavalli, Josef Wachtveitl, Michel O. O. Steinmetz, Jorg Standfuss
Summary: Photopharmacology utilizes chemical triggers to change ligand affinities and biological activity by light, which is important for understanding ligand-protein binding and release processes.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Christoph Kaiser, Marc Vogel, Bettina Appel, Julia Weigand, Sabine Mueller, Beatrix Suess, Josef Wachtveitl
Summary: Engineering in vitro selected RNA aptamers into in vivo functional riboswitches is a challenge in molecular biology. Magnesium ions play a crucial role in the folding process.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Elena Buhl, Tom Resler, Rebecca Lam, Marvin Asido, Ernst Bamberg, Ramona Schlesinger, Christian Bamann, Joachim Heberle, Josef Wachtveitl
Summary: The study reveals the correlation between channel opening of CrChR2 and retinal isomerization, photocycle, and protein channel activity. The photocycle of the R120H variant is intact despite deficient channel activity. Analysis of the amide I mode shows impairment of the ultrafast protein response after retinal excitation.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Tobias Fischer, Jonas Leitner, Aaron Gerwien, Peter Mayer, Andreas Dreuw, Henry Dube, Josef Wachtveitl
Summary: The Hula-Twist (HT) photoreaction, which involves the motion of a double bond and an adjacent single bond, is a fundamental pathway for bond isomerizations. However, the fleeting nature of HT photoproducts has hindered direct experimental observation of this coupled motion. In this study, the Dube group designed a molecular framework using sterically crowded atropisomeric hemithioindigo (HTI) to stabilize the HT photoproducts and enable their direct observation. Furthermore, the researchers investigated the ultrafast excited state processes of the HT photoreaction, providing important insights into the mechanism of complex multibond rotations in the excited state.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anna Severin, Michaela Strinzel, Matthias Egger, Tiago Barros, Alexander Sokolov, Julia Vilstrup Mouatt, Stefan Mueller
Summary: This study analyzed 10,000 peer review reports from 1,644 biomedical journals and found that peer review in higher impact factor journals tends to be more thorough in addressing study methods but gives relatively less emphasis to presentation and suggesting solutions. This indicates that the Journal Impact Factor is a poor predictor of the quality of peer review.
Article
Plant Sciences
Niklas Klusch, Maximilian Dreimann, Jennifer Senkler, Nils Rugen, Werner Kuehlbrandt, Hans-Peter Braun
Summary: Protein complexes of the mitochondrial respiratory chain can assemble into supercomplexes. In this study, the structure of an Arabidopsis respiratory supercomplex composed of complex I and a complex III dimer was determined using high-resolution electron cryo-microscopy. The supercomplex contains 68 protein subunits and numerous bound cofactors. The stabilization of component complexes enables insights into their structure, including an interrupted aqueous passage in complex I, a new coenzyme A in the carbonic anhydrase module of complex I, and the water structure in the proton exit pathway of complex III2.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tobias Fischer, Lisa Kohler, Tanja Ott, Chen Song, Josef Wachtveitl, Chavdar Slavov
Summary: This study compares the photodynamics of knotless phytochromes with and without the PHY domain, revealing that the presence of the PHY domain slows down early dynamics and binding pocket relaxation. The photoproduct formation is also affected by the PHY domain and shows pH dependence.
PHOTOCHEMICAL & PHOTOBIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Phuong Thao Trinh, Sina Hasenstab, Markus Braun, Josef Wachtveitl
Summary: This study investigates the electron transfer processes in methylene blue-CdTe and methylene blue-CdTe/CdSe complexes. The research finds that the growth of the shell accelerates the electron transfer rate and changes the shape of the quantum dots. Transient absorption measurements show that QDs with a thin shell can achieve charge carrier multiplication, leading to increased charge transfer efficiency.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Heike Krueger, Marvin Asido, Josef Wachtveitl, Robert Tampe, Ralph Wieneke
Summary: This study demonstrates the 3D patterning of proteins in photoresponsive hydrogels and the potential to dynamically modify the biofunctional properties of materials at specific subvolumes.
COMMUNICATIONS MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Brandon P. Russell, David J. Vinyard
Summary: The Mn4CaO5 oxygen-evolving complex in Photosystem II is crucial for water oxidation. D1 residue R334 participates in proton release and interacts with PsbO. A D1-R334G mutant destabilizes the OEC but stabilizes the S2 intermediate.
BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOENERGETICS
(2024)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Alexander A. Bulychev, Tatiana S. Strelets
Summary: Excitable cells of higher plants and characean algae respond to stressful stimuli by generating action potentials that influence chlorophyll fluorescence and photosynthesis for an extended period of time. While plant leaves exhibit a reversible depression in the efficiency of photosystem II reaction after an individual action potential, characean algae show long-lasting oscillations of photosystem II reaction efficiency after firing an action potential. This study investigates the possible mechanisms behind these oscillations and suggests that they are a result of metabolic rearrangements in chloroplasts and the cyclosis cessation-recovery cycle induced by calcium influx during action potentials. The findings also indicate that fluidic communications between different cell regions play a role in these oscillations, and the inhibition of oscillations occurs when these communications are restricted or eliminated.
BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOENERGETICS
(2024)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Dmitry Zlenko, Elena A. Protasova, Georgy Tsoraev, Nikolai N. Sluchanko, Dmitry A. Cherepanov, Thomas Friedrich, Baosheng Ge, Song Qin, Eugene G. Maksimov, Andrew B. Rubin
Summary: The conformation of chromophores in isolated phycobiliproteins is heterogeneous, but not in the entire phycobilisome (PBS). Under low-energy excitation, there is no significant uphill energy transfer from the core to the peripheral rods of the PBS, while transfer from the terminal emitters to bulk allophycocyanin chromophores is highly probable.
BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOENERGETICS
(2024)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Makio Yokono, Chiyo Noda, Jun Minagawa
Summary: This paper investigates the energy transfer between Photosystem II and Photosystem I in Arabidopsis thaliana, and finds that the fast spillover is reversibly regulated depending on pH.
BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOENERGETICS
(2024)