Xiche Hu, Thorsten Ritz, Ana Damjanović, Felix Autenrieth, and Klaus
Schulten.
Photosynthetic apparatus of purple bacteria.
Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics, 35:1-62, 2002.
HU2002
This article reviews work accomplished during the past decade on
the structure and function of the photosynthetic unit of purple
bacteria with a main focus on the light harvesting component. The
photosynthetic unit exists as aggregates of proteins in the
intracellular membranes of
these bacteria; the units absorb sun light and utilize its energy for
the synthesis of ATP. The light harvesting component involves
ring-shape proteins that surround directly in the form of satellite
rings the so-called reaction center. The structure of the proteins as
established through a combination of experimental and
computational methods is reviewed. The proteins provide a
scaffold for a hierarchical
aggregate of chlorophylls and carotenoids that funnel electronic
excitation towards the reaction center. The physics of this process
is reviewed in detail. Finally, the genomic level organization of the
light harvesting system is summarized.
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