Dh. Stewart et al., Selective Raman scattering from the core chlorophylls in photosystem I viapreresonant near-infrared excitation, J PHYS CH B, 103(18), 1999, pp. 3758-3764
The Raman scattering characteristics of photosystem I (PSI) over the 200-17
00-cm(-1) frequency range have been examined using near-infrared (NIR) exci
tation (lambda(ex), = 800 nm). The salient features observed in the spectra
are as follows: (1) The Raman spectra are characteristic of neutral,pentac
oordinate chlorophyll a (Chl a) molecules regardless of the oxidation state
of the primary electron donor, P700. No Raman bands are observed for the o
xidized primary donor, P700(+), despite the fact that the 800-nm excitation
wavelength is coincident with a NIR absorption feature of the m-cation rad
ical species. (2) The redox state of P700 has a strong influence on the tem
perature dependence of the preresonance Raman (PRR) scattering intensities
of the neutral Chls in PSI (Q(y) absorption maxima 660-720 nm). When P700 i
s neutral, the PRR intensities of the neutral Chls decrease approximately 4
-fold on going from 77 to 200 K. When P700 is chemically or photochemically
oxidized, the PRR Scattering intensities of the neutral Chls are essential
ly temperature independent. The PRR intensities of the chemically oxidized
sample at 77 K are approximately 50% larger than those of the neutral sampl
e, whereas those at 200 K are about 4-fold larger and are comparable to tho
se Ir observed at 77 K. The observation that the redox state of WOO dramati
cally alters the PRR scattering intensities of the neutral Chls suggests th
at the dominant contribution to the PRR spectrum obtained with 800 nm excit
ation is from either neutral Chls that are electronically coupled to P700 o
r these molecules plus the neutral pair of Chls in P700. The structure of P
SI indicates that the P700 dimer is in close proximity to only a handful of
core monomeric Chls. Thus, these findings suggest that NIR-excitation PRR
spectroscopy provides a selective probe of the core Chls in PSI and may aid
in the characterization of the -electronic coupling among these Chls.