Search results for "Rhodobacter sphaeroides"
showing 8 items of 8 documents
Energy transfer in LH2 of Rhodospirillum Molischianum, studied by subpicosecond spectroscopy and configuration interaction exciton calculations.
2001
Two color transient absorption measurements were performed on a LH2 complex from Rhodospirillum molischianum by using several excitation wavelengths (790, 800, 810, and 830 nm) and probing in the spectral region from 790 to 870 nm at room temperature. The observed energy transfer time of ∼1.0 ps from B800 to B850 at room temperature is longer than the corresponding rates in Rhodopseudomonas acidophila and Rhodobacter sphaeroides. We observed variations (0.9-1.2 ps) of B800-850 energy transfer times at different B800 excitation wavelengths, the fastest time (0.9 ps) was obtained with 800 nm excitation. At 830 nm excitation the energy transfer to the B850 ring takes place within 0.5 ps. The m…
Incorporation of the bacterial reaction centre into dendrimersomes
2012
For the first time the ability of the first generation dendrimer belonging to the family of polyester-benzylether, (3,5)12G1-PE-BMPA-(OH)4, to form dendrimersomes is presented together with their capability to reconstitute the integral membrane protein complex called Reaction Centre (RC) purified from the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Size, polydispersity and time stability of the empty and protein containing dendrimersomes are presented together with the photochemical activity of the guest protein. The RC presence appears to strongly enhance the self-assembly properties of the Janus dendrimer, leading to the formation of proteo-dendrimersomes showing a photochemical act…
Quantification of denitrifying bacteria in soils by nirK gene targeted real-time PCR.
2004
Abstract Denitrification, the reduction of nitrate to nitrous oxide or dinitrogen, is the major biological mechanism by which fixed nitrogen returns to the atmosphere from soil and water. Microorganisms capable of denitrification are widely distributed in the environment but little is known about their abundance since quantification is performed using fastidious and time-consuming MPN-based approaches. We used real-time PCR to quantify the denitrifying nitrite reductase gene (nirK), a key enzyme of the denitrifying pathway catalyzing the reduction of soluble nitrogen oxide to gaseous form. The real-time PCR assay was linear over 7 orders of magnitude and sensitive down to 102 copies by assa…
Internal dynamics and protein-matrix coupling in trehalose-coated proteins.
2005
Abstract We review recent studies on the role played by non-liquid, water-containing matrices on the dynamics and structure of embedded proteins. Two proteins were studied, in water–trehalose matrices: a water-soluble protein (carboxy derivative of horse heart myoglobin) and a membrane protein (reaction centre from Rhodobacter sphaeroides ). Several experimental techniques were used: Mossbauer spectroscopy, elastic neutron scattering, FTIR spectroscopy, CO recombination after flash photolysis in carboxy-myoglobin, kinetic optical absorption spectroscopy following pulsed and continuous photoexcitation in Q B containing or Q B deprived reaction centre from R. sphaeroides . Experimental result…
Probing light-induced conformational transitions in bacterial photosynthetic reaction centers embedded in trehalose-water amorphous matrices.
2004
Abstract The coupling between electron transfer and protein dynamics has been studied in photosynthetic reaction centers (RC) from Rhodobacter sphaeroides by embedding the protein into room temperature solid trehalose–water matrices. Electron transfer kinetics from the primary quinone acceptor (Q A − ) to the photoxidized donor (P + ) were measured as a function of the duration of photoexcitation from 20 ns (laser flash) to more than 1 min. Decreasing the water content of the matrix down to ≈5×10 3 water molecules per RC causes a reversible four-times acceleration of P + Q A − recombination after the laser pulse. By comparing the broadly distributed kinetics observed under these conditions …
Myoglobin embedded in saccharide amorphous matrices: water-dependent domains evidenced by small angle X-ray scattering
2010
We report Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) measurements performed on samples of carboxy-myoglobin (MbCO) embedded in low-water trehalose glasses. Results showed that, in such samples, "low-protein" trehalose-water domains are present, surrounded by a protein-trehalose-water background; such finding is supported by Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) measurements. These domains, which do not appear in the absence of the protein and in analogous sucrose systems, preferentially incorporate the incoming water at the onset of rehydration, and disappear following large hydration. This observation suggests that, in organisms under anhydrobiosis, analogous domains could play a buffering role against th…
Quantum Chemical Simulations of Excited-State Absorption Spectra of Photosynthetic Bacterial Reaction Center and Antenna Complexes
2011
The semiempirical ZINDO/S CIS configuration interaction method has been used to study the ground- and excited-state absorption spectra of wild type and heterodimer M202HL reaction centers from purple bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides as well as of peripheral LH2 and LH3 light harvesting complexes from purple bacterium Rhodopseudomonas acidophila. The calculations well reproduce the experimentally observed excited-state absorption spectra between 1000 and 17,000 cm(-1), despite the necessarily limited number of chromophores and protein subunits involved in the calculations. The electron density analysis reveals that the charge transfer between adjacent chromophores dominates the excited-stat…
Carotenoids and the Assembly of Light-harvesting Complexes
2006
Carotenoids are constitutive components of all light-harvesting complexes in plants and many such complexes in bacteria. In the crystal structures of several light-harvesting complexes, carotenoids are seen to span the lipid bilayer and connect components of the complex on both membrane surfaces and/or to mediate the interaction of transmembrane protein helices. This important stabilizing function suggests that these pigments are also actively involved in the assembly of light-harvesting complexes. Verification of this notion appears too ambitious a goal at present, as the question of how the pigment-protein complexes of the photosynthetic apparatus are assembled is still open. However, inf…