Linear dichroism and circular dichroism in photosynthesis research

The efficiency of photosynthetic light energy conversion depends largely on the molecular architecture of the photosynthetic membranes. Linear- and circular-dichroism (LD and CD) studies have contributed significantly to our knowledge of the molecular organization of pigment systems at different levels of complexity, in pigment–protein complexes, supercomplexes, and their macroassemblies, as well as in entire membranes and membrane systems. Many examples show that LD and CD data are in good agreement with structural data; hence, these spectroscopic tools serve as the basis for linking the structure of photosynthetic pigment–protein complexes to steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopy. They are also indispensable for identifying conformations and interactions in native environments, and for monitoring reorganizations during photosynthetic functions, and are important in characterizing reconstituted and artificially constructed systems. This educational review explains, in simple terms, the basic physical principles, and theory and practice of LD and CD spectroscopies and of some related quantities in the areas of differential polarization spectroscopy and microscopy

ICTV Virus Taxonomy Profile : Adenoviridae 2022

The family Adenoviridae includes non-enveloped viruses with linear dsDNA genomes of 25-48 kb and medium-sized icosahedral capsids. Adenoviruses have been discovered in vertebrates from fish to humans. The family is divided into six genera, each of which is more common in certain animal groups. The outcome of infection may vary from subclinical to lethal disease. This is a summary of the ICTV Report on the family Adenoviridae, which is available at ictv.global/report/adenoviridae