RED-SHIFT OF THE ZERO-CROSSING IN THE CD SPECTRA OF THE LH2 ANTENNA COMPLEX OF RHODOPSEUDOMONAS-ACIDOPHILA - A STRUCTURE-BASED STUDY

The published crystal structure of the LH2 complex of Rhodopseudomonas acidophila is used to calculate absorption and CD spectra of this sys tem. An important parameter, the zero crossing of the CD spectrum with respect to the absorption maximum, is shown to be sensitive to struct ural changes. The changes in spectral properties as a function of vary ing excited state energy, variation in the dielectric properties of th e surrounding medium, and changes in relative orientations of the chro mophores are also investigated. It is shown that the experimentally ob served red shift of the zero crossing can be explained by lifting the degeneracy of the excited state of the monomers and taking into accoun t more than half of the LH2 ring.