Issue 17, 2018

Energetic insights into two electron transfer pathways in light-driven energy-converting enzymes

Abstract

We report redox potentials (Em) for one-electron reduction for all chlorophylls in the two electron-transfer branches of water-oxidizing enzyme photosystem II (PSII), photosystem I (PSI), and purple bacterial photosynthetic reaction centers (PbRC). In PSI, Em values for the accessory chlorophylls were similar in both electron-transfer branches. In PbRC, the corresponding Em value was 170 mV less negative in the active L-branch (BL) than in the inactive M-branch (BM), favoring BL˙ formation. This contrasted with the corresponding chlorophylls, ChlD1 and ChlD2, in PSII, where Em(ChlD1) was 120 mV more negative than Em(ChlD2), implying that to rationalize electron transfer in the D1-branch, ChlD1 would need to serve as the primary electron donor. Residues that contributed to Em(ChlD1) < Em(ChlD2) simultaneously played a key role in (i) releasing protons from the substrate water molecules and (ii) contributing to the larger cationic population on the chlorophyll closest to the Mn4CaO5 cluster (PD1), favoring electron transfer from water molecules. These features seem to be the nature of PSII, which needs to possess the proton-exit pathway to use a protonated electron source—water molecules.

Graphical abstract: Energetic insights into two electron transfer pathways in light-driven energy-converting enzymes

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
26 Jan 2018
Accepted
28 Mar 2018
First published
28 Mar 2018
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2018,9, 4083-4092

Energetic insights into two electron transfer pathways in light-driven energy-converting enzymes

K. Kawashima and H. Ishikita, Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 4083 DOI: 10.1039/C8SC00424B

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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