Optical solid-state NMR spectroscopy: Photosensors and photosynthetic reaction centers

Solid-state magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR is a well-suited method to study structural and functional aspects of large proteins. Here, we discuss the opportunities to combine illumination techniques with MAS NMR to study proteins interacting with light: photosensors and photosynthetic reaction center (RC) proteins.

Bilin photoreceptors as phytochromes and cyanophytochromes are undergoing a photo-transformation and induce various photoreactions in plants and bacteria. Here, the primary photo-process as well as the signaling routes are addressed.

In natural photosynthetic RCs under illumination, spin-correlated radical pairs occur and induce the so-called “solid-state photo-CIDNP effect” improving the NMR sensitivity of a factor of several 10.000. Therefore, photo-CIDNP MAS NMR allows for perfect information at the atomic scale even in large photosynthetic units. We will ask for the origins of the functional symmetry break in purple-bacterial RCs as well as of the high quantum yield of light-driven electron transfer.

Prof. Jörg Matysik, Universität Leipzig, Institut für Analytische Chemie

Topic: IBC Seminar Jörg Matysik

Time: Mar 17, 2021 04:00 PM Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna

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