Single molecule spectroscopy on a photosynthetic pigment-protein complex

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K13863
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Biological physics/Chemical physics/Soft matter physics
• Research Institution: Kumamoto University
• Principal Investigator: Kosumi Daisuke 熊本大学, パルスパワー科学研究所, 准教授 (70613149)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 原 正大 熊本大学, 大学院先端科学研究部(理), 准教授 (50392080) ; 瀧尾 進 熊本大学, くまもと水循環・減災研究教育センター, 教授 (60188109)
• Research Collaborator: KAWAKAMI KEISUKE ; FUJIMOTO SHOGO ; HIROTA YUMA
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 光合成 / プラズモニクス / 単原子層ナノシート / エネルギー伝達

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The photosynthetic organisms in plants, algae and bacteria are nano-bio integrated photonic devices with the most efficient energy conversion function in the earth. Single molecule spectroscopic measurements on such biomolecules are an urgent task to clarify their essential electron and energy transport phenomenon. In this project, we have developed a spectroscopic system with picosecond time resolution capable of single photon level detection and real - time observation of photosynthetic energy transfer process. We also established a method to prepare a phycobilisome supercomplex with sufficient size to realize single supramolecular spectroscopy from cyanobacteria and red algae, and clarified details of their energy transfer processes.

Free Research Field

光物性物理学