Collaborative Research: Combining Theory and Experiment to Understand Carotenoid Photophysics in Photosynthetic Light-Harvesting

合作研究：结合理论和实验来了解光合光捕获中的类胡萝卜素光物理学

• 批准号: 1904655
• 负责人: Warren Beck
• 金额: $ 26.22万
• 依托单位: Michigan State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-01 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1904655&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Combining; Theory; Experiment

Carotenoids are essential light-absorbing pigments that help conversion of sunlight energy during photosynthesis and, in addition, provide photoprotection from the sun's damaging effects to photosynthetic organisms. With this award, the Chemistry of Life Processes Program in the Chemistry Division and the Molecular Biophysics Program in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences is funding Dr. Gascon from University of Connecticut and Dr. Beck from Michigan State University to investigate the energy transfer and photoprotection functions of carotenoids in the proteins of such organisms. High-level computational methods are developed to predict how light harvesting affects the structure of carotenoids within these proteins and experimental methods are used to test these predictions. Results from these studies are applicable to engineering new materials for solar energy capture and storage that are more efficient at absorbing light, while being less susceptible to photodamage. In addition, the project increases the knowledge of high school and undergraduate students, including those from underrepresented groups, on how computational methods help to answer important questions in biology and chemistry, and how computer modeling is prevalent and impacts our daily lives. Carotenoids act as light-harvesting pigments, which are uniquely positioned to absorb light outside the light-capturing range of Chlorophylls (Chl). Equally important is the role of carotenoids as photo-protectors of the photosynthetic apparatus via non-photochemical quenching mechanisms and quenching of singlet oxygen. Two examples of protein complexes with these two capabilities are the peridinin-chlorophyll a-protein (PCP) from marine algae dinoflagellates and the orange carotenoid protein (OCP) from cyanobacteria. Despite the availability of high-resolution structures of PCP, OCP, and other carotenoid-containing light-harvesting proteins, and considerable experimental and theoretical efforts, a general understanding of how the carotenoids function in energy transfer and photoprotection is still not fully available due to longstanding controversies in several areas. This research produces a systematic and synergistic examination of these mechanisms, combining advanced electronic structure calculations in proteins and advanced spectroscopy techniques to discover the controlling spectral factors and the dynamical fate of carotenoids during the first events of light harvesting and photoprotection in photosynthetic proteins.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

类胡萝卜素是必不可少的浅色色素，可帮助光合作用过程中阳光的转化，此外，还提供了从太阳的破坏效应到光合生物体的光保护。通过该奖项，化学过程的化学过程计划和分子和细胞生物科学分部的分子生物物理学计划是为康涅狄格大学的Gascon博士和密歇根州立大学的贝克博士提供了资金，以研究这种生物体蛋白质中类胡萝卜素的能量转移和光保护功能。开发了高级计算方法，以预测光收集如何影响这些蛋白质中类胡萝卜素的结构，并使用实验方法来测试这些预测。这些研究的结果适用于工程新材料用于太阳能捕获和储存，这些材料在吸收光方面更有效，同时又不易受到光损伤。此外，该项目增加了高中和本科生的知识，包括代表性不足的小组，计算方法如何帮助回答生物学和化学中的重要问题，以及计算机建模如何普遍存在并影响我们的日常生活。 类胡萝卜素充当光收获的颜料，其位置是在叶绿素（CHL）的光捕获范围外吸收光（CHL）之外的光。同样重要的是类胡萝卜素作为光合作用仪的光质孔的作用，这是通过非光学化学淬火机制和单重氧的淬灭的作用。这两种能力的蛋白质复合物的两个例子是来自海洋藻类鞭毛藻酸酯和蓝细菌的橙色类胡萝卜素蛋白（OCP）的植物素 - 氯植物A-蛋白（PCP）。尽管有PCP，OCP和其他含类胡萝卜素的轻度收获蛋白的高分辨率结构以及相当大的实验和理论努力的可用性，但由于在多个领域的长期争议中，对类胡萝卜素在能量传递和光保护中的功能的普遍了解仍然无法完全获得。这项研究产生了对这些机制的系统和协同检查，结合了蛋白质和先进的光谱技术中的高级电子结构计算，以发现光谱因素的控制因素以及在光收获和光化的第一个事件中的类胡萝卜素的动态命运，并在光合蛋白质中使用了nsf的构建元素来反映出nsf的基础元素。和更广泛的影响审查标准。

项目成果

Interexciton nonradiative relaxation pathways in the peridinin-chlorophyll protein

• DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2021.100380
• 发表时间: 2021-03-24
• 期刊: CELL REPORTS PHYSICAL SCIENCE
• 影响因子: 8.9
• 作者: Tilluck, Ryan W.;Ghosh, Soumen;Beck, Warren F.
• 通讯作者: Beck, Warren F.

Fluorescence of Carotenoids: Probing Binding Site Interactions and Conformational Motion in Carotenoproteins

类胡萝卜素的荧光：探测胡萝卜素蛋白中的结合位点相互作用和构象运动

• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Methods in enzymology
• 作者: Rose, J. B.;Beck, W. F.
• 通讯作者: Beck, W. F.

Spectral Signatures of Canthaxanthin Translocation in the Orange Carotenoid Protein

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c08756
• 发表时间: 2020-12-17
• 期刊: JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B
• 影响因子: 3.3
• 作者: Pigni, Natalia B.;Clark, Kevin L.;Gascon, Jose A.
• 通讯作者: Gascon, Jose A.