REVIEW: Long-Wavelength Chlorophylls in Photosystem I of Cyanobacteria: Origin, Localization, and Functions

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N. V. Karapetyan^1*, Yu. V. Bolychevtseva¹, N. P. Yurina¹, I. V. Terekhova¹, V. V. Shubin¹, and M. Brecht^2,3

¹Bach Institute of Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky pr. 33, 119071 Moscow, Russia; fax: (495) 954-2732; E-mail: nkarap@inbi.ras.ru; bolychev@inbi.ras.ru; terekhova@inbi.ras.ru

²University Tubingen, Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry (IPTC), Auf der Morgenstelle 18, 72076 Tubingen, Germany; fax: +49 (7071) 295-490; E-mail: marc.brecht@uni-tuebingen.de

³Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Institute of Applied Mathematics and Physics, Technikumstrasse 13, 8401 Winterthur, Switzerland; fax: +41 (58) 9357-3062; E-mail: bret@zhaw.ch

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received November 7, 2013; Revision received November 28, 2013

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The structural organization of photosystem I (PSI) complexes in cyanobacteria and the origin of the PSI antenna long-wavelength chlorophylls and their role in energy migration, charge separation, and dissipation of excess absorbed energy are discussed. The PSI complex in cyanobacterial membranes is organized preferentially as a trimer with the core antenna enriched with long-wavelength chlorophylls. The contents of long-wavelength chlorophylls and their spectral characteristics in PSI trimers and monomers are species-specific. Chlorophyll aggregates in PSI antenna are potential candidates for the role of the long-wavelength chlorophylls. The red-most chlorophylls in PSI trimers of the cyanobacteria Arthrospira platensis and Thermosynechococcus elongatus can be formed as a result of interaction of pigments peripherally localized on different monomeric complexes within the PSI trimers. Long-wavelength chlorophylls affect weakly energy equilibration within the heterogeneous PSI antenna, but they significantly delay energy trapping by P700. When the reaction center is open, energy absorbed by long-wavelength chlorophylls migrates to P700 at physiological temperatures, causing its oxidation. When the PSI reaction center is closed, the P700 cation radical or P700 triplet state (depending on the P700 redox state and the PSI acceptor side cofactors) efficiently quench the fluorescence of the long-wavelength chlorophylls of PSI and thus protect the complex against photodestruction.

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KEY WORDS: antenna, long-wavelength chlorophyll, P700, reaction center, fluorescence quenching, photosystem I, cyanobacteria

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297914030067

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