Excitonic Energy Landscape of the Y16F Mutant of the <i>Chlorobium tepidum</i> Fenna–Matthews–Olson (FMO) Complex: High Resolution Spectroscopic and Modeling Studies

We report high-resolution (low-temperature) absorption, emission, and nonresonant/resonant hole-burned (HB) spectra and results of excitonic calculations using a non-Markovian reduced density matrix theory (with an improved algorithm for parameter optimization in heterogeneous samples) obtained for the Y16F mutant of the Fenna–Matthews–Olson (FMO) trimer from the green sulfur bacterium <i>Chlorobium tepidum</i>. We show that the Y16F mutant is a mixture of FMO complexes with three independent low-energy traps (located near 817, 821, and 826 nm), in agreement with measured composite emission and HB spectra. Two of these traps belong to mutated FMO subpopulations characterized by significantly modified low-energy excitonic states. Hamiltonians for the two major subpopulations (Sub₈₂₁ and Sub₈₁₇) provide new insight into extensive changes induced by the single-point mutation in the vicinity of BChl 3 (where tyrosine Y16 was replaced with phenylalanine F16). The average decay time(s) from the higher exciton state(s) in the Y16F mutant depends on frequency and occurs on a picosecond time scale

The Protein Environment of the Bacteriopheophytin Anion Modulates Charge Separation and Charge Recombination in Bacterial Reaction Centers

The kinetics and pathway of electron transfer has been explored in a series of reaction center mutants from <i>Rhodobacter sphaeroides</i>, in which the leucine residue at M214 near the bacteriopheophytin cofactor in the A-branch has been replaced with methionine, cysteine, alanine, and glycine. These amino acids have substantially different volumes, both from each other and, except for methionine, from the native leucine. Though the mutation site of M214 is close to the bacteriopheophytin cofactor, which is involved in the electron transfer, none of the mutations alter the cofactor composition of the reaction center and the primary charge separation reaction is essentially undisturbed. However, the kinetics of electron transfer from H_A^– → Q_A becomes both slower and substantially heterogeneous in three of the four mutants. The decreased H_A^– → Q_A electron transfer rate allows charge recombination between P⁺ and H_A^– to compete with the forward reaction, resulting in a drop in the overall yield of charge separation. Both the yield change and the variation in kinetics correlate well with the volume of the mutant amino acid side chains. Analysis of the kinetics suggests that the introduction of a smaller side chain at M214 results in greater protein structural heterogeneity and dynamics on multiple time scales, resulting in perturbation of the electronic environment and its evolution in the vicinity of the early charge-separated radical pair, P⁺H_A^–, and the subsequent acceptor Q_A, affecting both the extent and time scale of dielectric relaxation. It appears that the reaction center has been optimized not only in terms of its static structure–function relationships, but also finely tuned to favor particular reaction pathways on particular time scales by adjusting protein dynamics

Native Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Oligomerization States of Fluorescence Recovery Protein and Orange Carotenoid Protein: Two Proteins Involved in the Cyanobacterial Photoprotection Cycle

The orange carotenoid protein (OCP) and fluorescence recovery protein (FRP) are present in many cyanobacteria and regulate an essential photoprotection cycle in an antagonistic manner as a function of light intensity. We characterized the oligomerization states of OCP and FRP by using native mass spectrometry, a technique that has the capability of studying native proteins under a wide range of protein concentrations and molecular masses. We found that dimeric FRP is the predominant state at protein concentrations ranging from 3 to 180 μM and that higher-order oligomers gradually form at protein concentrations above this range. The OCP, however, demonstrates significantly different oligomerization behavior. Monomeric OCP (mOCP) dominates at low protein concentrations, with an observable population of dimeric OCP (dOCP). The ratio of dOCP to mOCP, however, increases proportionally with protein concentration. Higher-order OCP oligomers form at protein concentrations beyond 10 μM. Additionally, native mass spectrometry coupled with ion mobility allowed us to measure protein collisional cross sections and interrogate the unfolding of different FRP and OCP oligomers. We found that monomeric FRP exhibits a one-stage unfolding process, which could be correlated with its C-terminal bent crystal structure. The structural domain compositions of FRP and OCP are compared and discussed

Redox Conditions Affect Ultrafast Exciton Transport in Photosynthetic Pigment–Protein Complexes

Pigment–protein complexes in photosynthetic antennae can suffer oxidative damage from reactive oxygen species generated during solar light harvesting. How the redox environment of a pigment–protein complex affects energy transport on the ultrafast light-harvesting time scale remains poorly understood. Using two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy, we observe differences in femtosecond energy-transfer processes in the Fenna–Matthews–Olson (FMO) antenna complex under different redox conditions. We attribute these differences in the ultrafast dynamics to changes to the system–bath coupling around specific chromophores, and we identify a highly conserved tyrosine/tryptophan chain near the chromophores showing the largest changes. We discuss how the mechanism of tyrosine/tryptophan chain oxidation may contribute to these differences in ultrafast dynamics that can moderate energy transfer to downstream complexes where reactive oxygen species are formed. These results highlight the importance of redox conditions on the ultrafast transport of energy in photosynthesis. Tailoring the redox environment may enable energy transport engineering in synthetic light-harvesting systems