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Joint Chemical Physics Seminars

Aggregation quenching in the minor antenna protein of plant CP29
Vincenzo Mascoli
(Biophysics of Photosynthesis, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Photosynthetic antennas can serve different biological functions, ranging from light-harvesting to photoprotection. Quenching upon antenna aggregation, which exhibits many spectroscopic similarities with non photochemical quenching in vivo, is a common means  to investigate the photoprotective state of light-harvesting proteins. In this seminar, I will present some preliminary results about quenching in CP29, a minor antenna protein of plant photosystem II, which was measured in its monomeric and aggregated state using picosecond time-resolved fluorescence. The aim of this research is understanding the quenching mechanism acting in the monomeric and the aggregated states and the origin of the enhanced red emission observed in the aggregated state. The use of the wild-type protein, as well as some mutants lacking selected chlorophylls also helps understanding the role of specific pigments in the above-mentioned mechanisms.

2018-12-07 10:30 @ D401 (Saulėtekio av. 3, Vilnius).

Contacts: marijonas.tutkus@ftmc.lt (FTMC), kestutis.aidas@ff.vu.lt (VU FF).