Biophysical Journal 66: 415-429 (1994)
© 1994 the Biophysical Society

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Kinetic modeling of exciton migration in photosynthetic systems. 2. Simulations of excitation dynamics in two-dimensional photosystem I core antenna/reaction center complexes.

Max-Planck-Institut für Strahlenchemie, Mülheim a.d. Ruhr, Germany.

ABSTRACT

Kinetic modeling of the exciton migration in the cyanobacterial photosystem I core complex from Synechococcus sp. was performed by an exact solution of the Pauli master equation for exciton motion. A square two-dimensional 10 x 10 pigment lattice and a Förster dipole-dipole coupling between chromophores was assumed. We calculated decay-associated spectra and lifetimes and compared them to the corresponding experimental data from picosecond fluorescence and transient absorption obtained by global analysis. Seven spectral chlorophyll(Chl) forms, identical in shape but shifted in their absorption maximums, were used to describe the non-homogeneous broadening of the PS I-100 particle absorption spectrum. The optimized Chl lattice arrangement best reproducing the experimental decay-associated spectra as well as the steady-state fluorescence spectrum indicated the long-wavelength-absorbing Chls forming a cluster in the corner of the lattice with the reaction center (RC) placed apart at a distance of two lattice constants. The variable parameters, i.e., the charge separation rate in the RC and the lattice constant a, were found to be optimal at kRC = 2.3 ps-1 and a = 1.14 nm, respectively. The surprising conclusions of the simulations is that Chls with absorption maxima as long a 724 nm have to be taken into account to describe the time-resolved spectra of this PS I particle properly. The dependencies of the exciton decay in the model PS I particle on the excitation wavelength and on the temperature are discussed. We also show that the excited state decay of similar PS I particles that lack the long-wavelength absorbing Chls is nearly mono-exponential. Various critical factors that limit the general reliability of the conclusions of such simulations are discussed in detail.