Temperature dependence of electron transfer to the M-side bacteriopheophytin in rhodobacter capsulatus reaction centers

Subpicosecond time-resolved absorption measurements at 77 K on two reaction center (RC) mutants of Rhodobacter capsulatus are reported. In the D(LL) mutant the D helix of the M subunit has been substituted with the D helix from the L subunit, and in the D(LL)-FY(L)F(M) mutant, three additional mutations are incorporated that facilitate electron transfer to the M side of the RC. In both cases the helix swap has been shown to yield isolated RCs that are devoid of the native bacteriopheophytin electron carrier HL (Chuang, J. I.; Boxer, S. G.; Holten, D.; Kirmaier, C. Biochemistry 2006, 45, 3845-3851). For D(LL), depending whether the detergent Deriphat 160-C or N-lauryl-N,N-dimethylamine-N-oxide (LDAO) is used to suspend the RCs, the excited state of the primary electron donor (P*) decays to the ground state with an average lifetime at 77 K of 330 or 170 ps, respectively; however, in both cases the time constant obtained from single-exponential fits varies markedly as a function of the probe wavelength. These findings on the D(LL) RC are most easily explained in terms of a heterogeneous population of RCs. Similarly, the complex results for D(LL)-FY(L)F(M) in Deriphat-glycerol glass at 77 K are most simply explained using a model that involves (minimally) two distinct populations of RCs with very different photochemistry. Within this framework, in 50% of the D(LL)-FY(L)F(M) RCs in Deriphat-glycerol glass at 77 K, P* deactivates to the ground state with a time constant of approximately 400 ps, similar to the deactivation of P* in the D(LL) mutant at 77 K. In the other 50% of D(LL)-FY(L)F(M) RCs, P* has a 35 ps lifetime and decays via electron transfer to the M branch, giving P+HM- in high yield (> or =80%). This result indicates that P* --> P(+)H(M)(-) is roughly a factor of 2 faster at 77 K than at 295 K. In alternative homogeneous models the rate of this M-side electron-transfer process is the same or up to 2-fold slower at low temperature. A 2-fold increase in rate with a reduction in temperature is the same behavior found for the overall L-side process P* --> P(+)H(L)(-) in wild-type RCs. Our results suggest that, as for electron transfer on the L side, the M-side electron-transfer reaction P* --> P(+)H(M)(-) is an activationless process.     

Light- and redox-dependent thermal stability of the reaction center of the photosynthetic Bacterium rhodobacter sphaeroides

Irreversible loss of the photochemical activity and damage of the pigments (bacteriochlorophyll [Bchl] monomer, Bchl dimer [P] and bacteriopheophytin) by combined treatment with intense and continuous visible light and elevated temperature have been studied in a deoxygenated solution of reaction center (RC) protein from the nonsulfur purple photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Both the fraction of RC in the charge-separated redox state (P+Q-, where Q is a quinone electron acceptor) and the degradation of the pigments showed saturation as a function of increasing light intensity up to 400 mW cm(-2) (488/515 nm) or 1100 microE m(-2) s(-1) (white light). The thermal denaturation curves of the RC in the P+Q- redox state demonstrated broadening and 10-20 degrees C shift to lower temperature (after 30-90 min heat treatment) compared with those in the PQ redox state. Similar but less striking behavior was seen for RC of other redox states (P+Q and PQ-) generated either by light or by electrochemical treatment in the dark. These experiments suggest that it is not the intense light per se but the changes in the redox state of the protein that are responsible for the increased sensitivity to photo- and heat damage. The RC with a charge pair (P+Q-) is more vulnerable to elevated temperature than the RC with (P+Q or PQ-) or without (PQ) a single charge. To reveal both the thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of the denaturation, a simple three-state model of coupled reversible thermal and irreversible kinetic transitions is presented. These effects may have relevance to the heat stability of other redox proteins in bioenergetics.     

Environmental control of primary photochemistry in a mutant bacterial reaction center

The core structure of the photosynthetic reaction center is quasisymmetric with two potential pathways (called A and B) for transmembrane electron transfer. Both the pathway and products of light-induced charge separation depend on local electrostatic interactions and the nature of the excited states generated at early times in reaction centers isolated from Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Here transient absorbance measurements were recorded following specific excitation of the Q(y)() transitions of P (the special pair of bacteriochlorophylls), the monomer bacteriochlorophylls (B(A) and B(B)), or the bacteriopheophytins (H(A) and H(B)) as a function of both buffer pH and detergent in a reaction center mutant with the mutations L168 His to Glu and L170 Asn to Asp in the vicinity of P and B(B). At a low pH in any detergent, or at any pH in a nonionic detergent (Triton X-100), the photochemistry of this mutant is faster than, but similar to, wild type (i.e. electron transfer occurs along the A-side, 390 nm excitation is capable of producing short-lived B-side charge separation (B(B)(+)H(B)(-)) but no long-lived B(B)(+)H(B)(-) is observed). Certain buffering conditions result in the stabilization of the B-side charge separated state B(B)(+)H(B)(-), including high pH in the zwitterionic detergent LDAO, even following excitation with low energy photons (800 or 740 nm). The most striking result is that conditions giving rise to stable B-side charge separation result in a lack of A-side charge separation, even when P is directly excited. The mechanism that links B(B)(+)H(B)(-) stabilization to this change in the photochemistry of P in the mutant is not understood, but clearly these two processes are linked and highly sensitive to the local electrostatic environment produced by buffering conditions (pH and detergent).     

Effect of replacing the primary quinone by different species on the ultrafast photosynthetic electron transfer in bacterial reaction centres

Using picosecond absorption spectroscopy it has been shown that in Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centres the substitution of the primary quinone acceptor (QA), ubiquinone-10, by other quinone species (with redox potentials higher or lower than that of ubiquinone-10) has essentially no modifying effect on the reaction centre protein. The molecular relaxation processes that accompany the localization and stabilization of a photo-excited electron on the intermediate acceptor, bacteriopheophytin (I), are not affected, although the subsequent transfer of the electron from I to QA is slowed down. Consequently, this leads to a lower quantum efficiency of high rate of direct I-----QA reaction is normally due to the specificity of the primary quinone species and its binding site in the reaction centre protein which provide optimum steric and chemical conditions for an effective interaction between I and QA.     

光合反应中心原初电子转移机理的理论研究

用量子化学密度泛函B3LYP方法在3-21G水平上计算细菌光合反应中心原初电子给体P960和绿色植物PSⅡ光合反应中心原初电子给体P680的电子结构,然后研究轴向配位的组氨酸残基和周围蛋白质环境的影响,最后探讨其原初电子转移机理。计算结果表明：(1)细菌光合作用反应中心原初电子给体P960-h的HOMO主要是由与M分支相连的组成单元上原子的原子轨道组成,而它的LUMO则两个组成单元上原子的原子轨道都有贡献;PSⅡ反应中心中原初电子给体P680的HOMO和LUMO均主要由与D1蛋白相连的组成单元上原子的原子轨道组成。这些计算结果能够从反应中心最核心的部分-原初电子给体的电子结构方面解释Rps.uiridis反应中心和PSⅡ反应中心原初电子转移只沿一个分支进行的的途径选择性。(2)虽然与细菌反应中心原初电子给体超分子P960的两个细菌叶绿素分子形成轴向配位的组氨酸残基His并未参与超分子P960-h的HOMO和LUMO的组成,但是由于其轴向配位,使得P960-h的ELUMO显著地升高到高于辅助细菌叶绿素和去镁细菌叶绿素的相应值,使得原初电子转移反应能够顺利进行。否则原初电子转移反应很难进行。PSⅡ反应中心的情况,与细菌反应中心十分相似。(3)细菌反应中心辅助细菌叶绿素(ABChlb)中的Mg离子与最近的组氨酸残基His中的N原子的距离和原初电子给体P960中的相应的Mg-N的距离相似,因此同样应该考虑此轴向配位的组氨酸残基,此时原初电子转移反应是沿L分支从P960-h经ABChlb到去镁细菌叶绿素(BPheob)的两步电子转移过程。而PSⅡ反应中心的辅助叶绿素不存在His的轴向配位,这应是与细菌反应中心的重要区别之一,此时原初电子转移应是沿Dl分支从P680-h到Pheoa的一步电子转移过程,但同时也不能完全排除从P680-h到AChla到Pheoa的二步电子转移过程。     

细菌光合反应中心突变体原初电子转移机理的理 论研究

利用量子化学DFT从头计算方法,计算经过突变的细菌光合反应中心HM202L原始电子给体和其他色素分子的电子结构,然后对其原初电子转移机理进行探讨。结果表明：1)超分子D-2A的HOMO主要是由定域在其组成单元BChl~L分子上的原子轨道组成,而它的LUMO主要是由定域在其组成单元MBPheo~M分子上的原子轨道组成。这表明它在基态的激发态时分别存在超分子内的电荷分离态[BChl~L^--MBPheo~M^+]和[BChl~L^+-MBPheo~M^-]。同时也说明了D-2A阳离子态的正电荷完全分布在组成单元细菌叶绿素分子BChl~L上,与实验事实相符。2)HM202L细菌光合反应中心原初电子转移反应存在由ABCha~L^h^*驱动的电子转移反应。     

Molecular complexes and solvation interactions in the reaction of quinone imines with thiols

This study aims to investigate the role of complexation between reagents and the role of solvation of reagents by solvents in the kinetics of chain reactions of quinone imines with thiols. The thermodynamic characteristics of the complexation of quinone imines with thiophenol in CCl₄, chlorobenzene, and ethanol, as well as of the complexation of quinone imines and thiophenol with these solvents were calculated by quantum chemical methods (DFT calculations at the PBE/cc-pVDZ level of theory) and in terms of the additive-multiplicative model. Both approaches give consistent results. The formation of molecular complexes in quinone imine–thiphenol systems is accompanied by a 10–30 kJ mol^–1 decrease in enthalpy and has only a slight effect on the reaction mechanism.     

光系统I（PSI）反应中心的激子耦合

运用点偶极、单极跃迁电荷和跃迁密度等经典库仑作用的方法,考察了叶绿素a分子间面心距和错位结构等因素对激子耦合的影响．结果表明,当分子间距大于分子尺寸时,上述三种方法得到的结果基本一致;但当分子间距小于分子尺寸时,点偶极方法将明显高估激子耦合,跃迁密度的方法更适合计算分子间的激子耦合．此外,还使用上述方法计算了光系统Ⅰ（PSI）反应中心叶绿素a分子间激子耦合．结果表明,用跃迁密度计算PSI晶体结构（1jb0．pdb）e700的激子耦合为75.3cm^-1,而QM．MM优化的结构P700（ecAl．ecBl）的激子耦合为23．8cm^-1,这与考虑Dexter交换项的全对角化方法的结果（20cm^-1）一致,进而说明PSI反应中心并不是传统的P700强激子耦合对,而是ecAl-ecB2和ecBl-ecA2对强耦合二聚体构成的二聚体对．     

Slow dissociation of a charged ligand: analysis of the primary quinone Q(A) site of photosynthetic bacterial reaction centers

Reaction centers (RCs) are integral membrane proteins that undergo a series of electron transfer reactions during the process of photosynthesis. In the Q(A) site of RCs from Rhodobacter sphaeroides, ubiquinone-10 is reduced, by a single electron transfer, to its semiquinone. The neutral quinone and anionic semiquinone have similar affinities, which is required for correct in situ reaction thermodynamics. A previous study showed that despite similar affinities, anionic quinones associate and dissociate from the Q(A) site at rates ≈10(4) times slower than neutral quinones indicating that anionic quinones encounter larger binding barriers (Madeo, J.; Gunner, M. R. Modeling binding kinetics at the Q(A) site in bacterial reaction centers. Biochemistry 2005, 44, 10994-11004). The present study investigates these barriers computationally, using steered molecular dynamics (SMD) to model the unbinding of neutral ground state ubiquinone (UQ) and its reduced anionic semiquinone (SQ(-)) from the Q(A) site. In agreement with experiment, the SMD unbinding barrier for SQ(-) is larger than for UQ. Multi Conformational Continuum Electrostatics (MCCE), used here to calculate the binding energy, shows that SQ(-) and UQ have comparable affinities. In the Q(A) site, there are stronger binding interactions for SQ(-) compared to UQ, especially electrostatic attraction to a bound non-heme Fe(2+). These interactions compensate for the higher SQ(-) desolvation penalty, allowing both redox states to have similar affinities. These additional interactions also increase the dissociation barrier for SQ(-) relative to UQ. Thus, the slower SQ(-) dissociation rate is a direct physical consequence of the additional binding interactions required to achieve a Q(A) site affinity similar to that of UQ. By a similar mechanism, the slower association rate is caused by stronger interactions between SQ(-) and the polar solvent. Thus, stronger interactions for both the unbound and bound states of charged and highly polar ligands can slow their binding kinetics without a conformational gate. Implications of this for other systems are discussed.     

Some chemical and physical properties of a bacterial reaction center particle and its primary photochemical reactants

Abstract— A photochemically active protein-chlorophyll complex (i.e. reaction center particle) has been isolated from Rhodopseudomonas spheroides R-26. The isolation and purification procedure is outlined and some of the chemical and physical properties of the complex (e.g. amino acid composition, metal content, molecular weight) are presented. Two distinct ESR signals have been observed. They are attributed to the primary oxidation-reduction couple. The experimental evidence which shows that the narrow (g= 2.0026) signal is due to a bacterio-chlorophyll free radical is reviewed. The possibility that the broad ESR signal is due to iron is discussed.     

The mechanism of the modified Ullmann reaction

The copper-mediated aromatic nucleophilic substitution reactions developed by Fritz Ullmann and Irma Goldberg required stoichiometric amounts of copper and very high reaction temperatures. Recently, it was found that addition of relatively cheap ligands (diamines, aminoalcohols, diketones, diols) made these reactions truly catalytic, with catalyst amounts as low as 1 mol% or even lower. Since these catalysts are homogeneous, it has opened up the possibility to investigate the mechanism of these modified Ullmann reactions. Most authors agree that Cu(I) is the true catalyst even though Cu(0) and Cu(II) catalysts have also shown to be active. It should be noted however that Cu(I) is capable of reversible disproportionation into Cu(0) and Cu(II). In the first step, the nucleophile displaces the halide in the LnCu(I)X complex forming LnCu(I)ZR (Z = O, NR′, S). Quite a number of mechanisms have been proposed for the actual reaction of this complex with the aryl halide: 1. Oxidative addition of ArX forming a Cu(III) intermediate followed by reductive elimination; 2. Sigma bond metathesis; in this mechanism copper remains in the Cu(II) oxidation state; 3. Single electron transfer (SET) in which a radical anion of the aryl halide is formed (Cu(I)/Cu(II)); 4. Iodine atom transfer (IAT) to give the aryl radical (Cu(I)/Cu(II)); 5. π-complexation of the aryl halide with the Cu(I) complex, which is thought to enable the nucleophilic substitution reaction. Initially, the radical type mechanisms 3 and 4 where discounted based on the fact that radical clock-type experiments with ortho-allyl aryl halides failed to give the cyclised products. However, a recent DFT study by Houk, Buchwald and co-workers shows that the modified Ullmann reaction between aryl iodide and amines or primary alcohols proceeds either via an SET or an IAT mechanism. Van Koten has shown that stalled aminations can be rejuvenated by the addition of Cu(0), which serves to reduce the formed Cu(II) to Cu(I); this also corroborates a Cu(I)/Cu(II) mechanism. Thus the use of radical clock type experiments in these metal catalysed reactions is not reliable. DFT calculations from Hartwig seem to confirm a Cu(I)/Cu(III) type mechanism for the amidation (Goldberg) reaction, although not all possible mechanisms were calculated.     

Catalytic effect of aliphatic amine on the reaction of quinone diimine with 2-mercaptobenzothiazole

Russian Chemical Bulletin - A secondary aliphatic amine, N-benzylmethylamine, significantly increases the rate of the chain reaction of N,N′-diphenyl-1,4-benzoquinone diimine with...     

Modeling the bacterial photosynthetic reaction center. 4. The structural, electrochemical, and hydrogen-bonding properties of 22 mutants of Rhodobacter sphaeroides

Site-directed mutagenesis has been employed by a number of groups to produce mutants of bacterial photosynthetic reaction centers, with the aim of tuning their operation by modifying hydrogen-bond patterns in the close vicinity of the "special pair" of bacteriochlorophylls P identical with P(L)P(M). Direct X-ray structural measurements of the consequences of mutation are rare. Attention has mostly focused on effects on properties such as carbonyl stretching frequencies and midpoint potentials to infer indirectly the induced structural modifications. In this work, the structures of 22 mutants of Rhodobacter sphaeroides have been calculated using a mixed quantum-mechanical molecular-mechanical method by modifying the known structure of the wild type. We determine (i) the orientation of the 2a-acetyl groups in the wild type, FY(M197), and FH(M197) series mutants of the neutral and oxidized reaction center, (ii) the structure of the FY(M197) mutant and possible water penetration near the special pair, (iii) that significant protein chain distortions are required to assemble some M160 series mutants (LS(M160), LN(M160), LQ(M160), and LH(M160) are considered), (iv) that there is competition for hydrogen-bonding between the 9-keto and 10a-ester groups for the introduced histidine in LH(L131) mutants, (v) that the observed midpoint potential of P for HL(M202) heterodimer mutants, including one involving also LH(M160), can be correlated with the change of electrostatic potential experienced at P(L), (vi) that hydrogen-bond cleavage may sometimes be induced by oxidation of the special pair, (vii) that the OH group of tyrosine M210 points away from P(M), and (viii) that competitive hydrogen-bonding effects determine the change in properties of NL(L166) and NH(L166) mutants. A new technique is introduced for the determination of ionization energies at the Koopmans level from QM/MM calculations, and protein-induced Stark effects on vibrational frequencies are considered.     

The femtosecond dynamics of electron transfer in a modified photosynthesis reaction center: Quantum, classical, and kinetic analyses

The dynamics of electron transfer in a modified photosynthesis reaction center in which electron transfer from the bridge to the acceptor is blocked is considered. A microscopic model of the process is suggested. Within this model, the diabatic electronic states of the donor and bridge are described by one-dimensional displaced harmonic oscillators. The dynamics of the population of electronic states is calculated by the quantum method of wave packets and classical and kinetic modeling. The suggested model is used to study the qualitative dependence of the dynamics of electron transfer on the nonadiabatic interaction potential. The parameters of the model are determined by comparing the experimental and calculated absorption spectra of the product of electron transfer. It is shown that kinetic models can be used to approximately describe the dynamics of electron transfer in reaction centers. The boundaries of the applicability of the kinetic method are considered.     

Simulation of electron transfer between cytochrome C2 and the bacterial photosynthetic reaction center: Brownian dynamics analysis of the native proteins and double mutants

Electron transfer is essential for bacterial photosynthesis which converts light energy into chemical energy. This paper theoretically studies the interprotein electron transfer from cytochrome c(2) of Rhodobacter capsulatus to the photosynthetic reaction center of Rhodobacter sphaeroides in native and mutated systems. Brownian dynamics is used with an exponential distance-dependent electron-transfer rate model to compute bimolecular rate constants, which are consistent with experimental data when reasonable prefactors and decay constants are used. Interestingly, switching of the reaction mechanism from the diffusion-controlled limit in the native proteins to the activation-controlled limit in one of the mutants (DK(L261)/KE(C99)) was found. We also predict that the second-order rate for the native reaction center/cytochrome c(2) system will decrease with increasing ionic strength, a characteristic of electrostatically controlled docking.     

Heterodimeric versus homodimeric structure of the primary electron donor in Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centers genetically modified at position M202

Using light-induced Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) difference spectroscopy of the photo-oxidation of the primary donor (P) in chromatophores from Rhodobacter sphaeroides, we examined a series of site-directed mutants with His M202 changed to Gly, Ser, Cys, Asn or Glu in order to assess the ability of these side chains to ligate the Mg atom of one of the two bacteriochlorophylls (BChl) constituting P. In the P+QA-/PQA FTIR difference spectra of the mutants HG(M202), HS(M202), HC(M202) and HN(M202), the presence of a specific electronic transition at approximately 2650-2750 cm-1 as well as of associated vibrational (phase-phonon) bands at approximately 1560, 1480 and 1290 cm-1 demonstrate that these mutants contain a BChl/BChl homodimer like that in native reaction centers with the charge on P+ shared between the two coupled BChl. In contrast, the absence of all of these bands in HE(M202) shows that this mutant contains a BChl/bacteriopheophytin heterodimer with the charge localized on the single BChl, as previously determined for the mutant HL(M202). Furthermore, the spectra of the heterodimers HE(M202) and HL(M202) are very similar in the 4000-1200 cm-1 IR range. Perturbations of the 10a-ester and 9-keto carbonyl modes for both the P and P+ states are observed in the homodimer mutants reflecting slight variations in the conformation and/or in position of P. These perturbations are likely to be due to a repositioning of the dimer in the new protein cavity generated by the mutation.     

Mechanism of the Grignard reaction in terms of the cluster model of reaction center. A quantum-chemical study

Most probable paths of the classical Grignard reaction between ethyl bromide and Mg₃₁ cluster simulating the reaction center on the surface of metallic magnesium were analyzed in terms of the density functional theory [B3PW91/6-31G(d)]. Principal thermodynamic parameters of the radical reaction path, including the energy of adsorption of oxidant molecules on the cluster, the energy of formation of ethyl radicals, and the energy of their subsequent interaction with the surface, were calculated. The structure corresponding to the true transition state of the Grignard reaction was identified. The low energy of activation of the reaction occurring at the phase boundary (5.1 kcal/mol) indicated that the surface reaction of radical formation cannot be rate-determining.     

Proton diffusion reaction in a protein polyelectrolyte membrane and the kinetics of electromechanical forces

A theoretical model is developed for proton transport in a charged, protein polyelectrolyte membrane. Protons bind to fixed charge groups of the membrane. This binding process also modulates electromechanical tensile forces in the membrane, due to the change in the electrostatic interactions between the charged membrane molecules. We used this force as an experimental measure of the space—time evolution of proton transport inside the membrane. A step change in the bath pH produced a measurable change in the isometric tensile force of the membrane. H⁺ ion transport was modelled by a diffusion reaction theory. The kinetics of the measured force were compared to the H⁺ diffusion reaction dynamics predicted by the theory. Experimental and theoretical time constants were in good agreement for reasonable values of the H⁺ diffusivity, the equilibrium dissociation reaction constant and the number of available binding sites. This suggests that the diffusion reaction of H⁺ into the membrane is rate-limiting in force generation. Other nonequilibrium processes, including molecular reconformation and osmotic swelling, must be proceeding at least as rapidly as H⁺ transport. The combination of theory and experiment provides a useful, non-destructive technique for characterizing the kinetics of binding, and other transport processes, in charged polymers and in certain biological tissues.