PICOSECOND FLUORESCENCE KINETICS IN SPINACH CHLOROPLASTS AT LOW TEMPERATURE

Abstract— At 77 K the fluorescence from spinach chloroplasts excited using picosecond mode-locked laser pulses at 620 nm is made up of 5 separate kinetic components. Three of these are predominant at short wavelengths. between 650 and 690 nm, and they appear to correspond to the 3 decay phases seen at room temperature. The 2 new components. a 100 ps rise and a 3000 ps decay, characterize the longer (730–770 nm) wavelength fluorescence. The temperature dependence of the kinetic components of the long wavelength fluorescence shows that the 3000 ps decay accounts for essentially all of the large increase in fluorescence yield observed at low temperature. Furthermore, it appears that this increase does not result entirely from an increase in the fluorescence lifetime, as has been proposed. The dependences of these 2 new components (the 100 ps rise and 3000 ps decay) on emission wavelength and temperature are similar enough to suggest they have a common origin, presumably the chlorophyll pigment component C705. The amplitudes (yield/lifetime) of these 2 phases are approximately equal, and they are opposite in sign. Thus. we see evidence of time-resolved excitation transfer from those pigment molecules that absorb the 620 nm radiation to those that give rise to the long wavelength fluorescence at low temperature.     

PICOSECOND FLUORESCENCE KINETICS and ENERGY TRANSFER IN THE ANTENNA CHLOROPHYLLS OF GREEN ALGAE*

Single-photon timing measurements on flowing samples of Chlorella vulgaris and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii at low excitation intensities at room temperature indicate two main kinetic components of the fluorescence at open reaction centers (F₀) of photosystem II with lifetimes of approx. 130 and 500 ps and relative yields of about 30 and 70%. Closing the reaction centers progressively by preincubation of the algae with increasing concentrations of 3-(3′,4′-dichlorophenyl)-l,l-dimethylurea (DCMU) and hydroxylamine gave rise to a slow component with a lifetime increasing from 1.4 to 2.2 ns (F_max) The yield of the slow component increased to 65-68% of the total fluorescence yield in parallel to a decrease in the yield of the fast component to a value close to zero at the f_max-level. The 130 ps lifetime of the fast component remained unchanged. The middle component showed an increase of its lifetime from 500 to 1100 ps and of its yield by a factor of 1.5. Spacing of the ps laser pulses by 12 μs allowed us to resolve a new long-lived fluorescence component of very small amplitude which is ascribed to a small amount of chlorophyll not connected to functional antennae. The opposite dependence of the yield of the fast and the slow component on the state of the reaction centers at almost constant lifetimes is consistent with a mechanism of energy conversion in largely separately functioning photosystem II units. Yields and lifetimes of these two components are in agreement with the high quantum yield of photosynthesis. The lower lifetime limit of 1.4 ns of the slow component is assigned to the average transfer time of an excited state from a closed to a neighboring open reaction center and the increase in the lifetime to 2.2 ns is evidence for a limited energy transfer between photosystems II. Relative effects of changing the excitation wavelength from 630 to 652 nm on the relative fluorescence yields of the kinetic components were studied at the fluorescence wavelengths 682, 703 and 730 nm. Our data indicate that (i) the middle component has its fluorescence maximum at shorter wavelength than the fast component and (ii) that the antennae chlorophylls giving rise to the middle component are preferentially excited by 652 nm light. It is concluded that the middle component originates from the light-harvesting chlorophyll alb protein complexes and the major portion of the fast component from the chlorophyll a antennae of open photosystem II reaction centers.     

SPECTRA OF FLUORESCENCE LIFETIME AND INTENSITY OF Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides AT ROOM AND LOW TEMPERATURE. COMPARISON BETWEEN THE WILD TYPE, THE C 71 REACTION CENTER-LESS MUTANT AND THE B800–850 PIGMENT-PROTEIN COMPLEX

Abstract— Spectra of the fluorescence lifetime and intensity of chromatophores from the wild type Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides , from the C 71 reaction center-less mutant and of the B800–850 light harvesting pigment-protein complex have been studied by phase fluorimetry techniques at different light modulation frequencies at room and low temperature.
As already known, closed reaction centers (saturating light) are still quenchers of antenna fluorescence although with a lower efficiency than when they are opened. The fluorescence yields and lifetimes of both the C 71 mutant strain and the B800–850complex are found to increase by about 30% between room and low temperature.
The fluorescence lifetimes obtained for the C 71 strain (0.65 ns at 20C; 0.85 ns at 77 K) and for the B850 complex (1 ns at 20C; 1.3 ns at 77 K) indicate that the non-radiative deactivation pathways, in the antenna, remain important in the absence of the reaction centers even at low temperature. We suggest that these data arise from the presence of special antenna molecules which act as intrinsic quenchers of the B875 antenna fluorescence. Between room and low temperature, the fluorescence yield and lifetime of the wild type are found roughly constant. This result suggests that the energy trapping by the reaction centers is independent of the temperature. The mechanism governing the energy transfer from the antenna to the reaction centers may differ from the mechanism leading to the energy transfer within the antenna. We suggest that a partially irreversible trapping of the excitation energy, on its way to the reaction center, takes place in the vicinity of the reaction center.     

FLUORESCENCE KINETICS OF SPINACH CHLOROPLASTS MEASURED WITH A PICOSECOND OPTICAL KERR GATE

Abstract. An overview of the reported chlorophyll a fluorescence lifetimes from green plant photosystems is presented and the problems encountered in the measurement of fluorescence lifetime using two currently available picosecond techniques are discussed.
The fluorescence intensity of spinach chloroplasts exposed to 10 ps flashes was measured as a function of time after the flash and wavelength of observation by the ultrafast Kerr shutter technique. Using a train of 100 pulses separated by 6ns and with an average photon flux per pulse of ˜2 times 10¹⁴ photons/cm², the fluorescence intensity at 685 nm (room temperature) was found to decay with two components, a fast one with a 56 ps lifetime, and a slow one with a 220 ps lifetime. The 730 nm fluorescence intensity at room temperature decays as a single exponential with a 100 ps lifetime. The 730 nm fluorescence lifetime was found to increase by a factor of 6 when the temperature was lowered from room temperature to 90 K while the lifetime of 685 and 695 nm fluorescence were unchanged. At room temperature, the fast and slow components at 685 nm are attributed to the emission from pigment system I (PS I) and PS II, respectively. It is likely that the absolute values of lifetimes, reported here, may increase if single ps low intensity flashes are used for these measurements.     

Temperature and solvent viscosity effects on the absorption and fluorescence spectra of a series of pyrylium salts

The excitation and fluorescence spectra and the excited state lifetimes of pyrylium salts were studied in different polar solvents. An emission blue shift is observed when the temperature is lowered from 300 to 77 K. This phenomenon is believed to be due to solvent—solute interactions following changes in the electronic distribution in the excited state. At 77 K the excited state decay is faster than the solvent reorganization and the emission originates from the Franck—Condon state. At 300 K the solvent relaxation is now fast enough (about 50 ps) to allow the excited state to relax before emitting.     

Laser-induced temperature dependent triplet state lifetime of rubreneperoxide

A number of photophysical properties of three different types of rubreneperoxides have been measured experimentally by flash spectroscopy technique, including the two-photon absorption, fluorescence, delayed fluorescence and temperature dependent triplet-triplet absorption spectra. Excited singlet and triplet state lifetimes are temperature dependent. Lowest triplet state lifetimes were measured from 77 K to 50 degrees C. Experimental observations showed that as we decreased the temperature of rubreneperoxides, most of the molecules migrate to the lowest vibrational and rotational energy levels of the ground electronic state. Similar migration is also observed for the lowest triplet state. Therefore at 77 K, we can get the clean absorption an emission spectra and decay curves for the lowest triplet state. At 50 degrees C, due to the P- and/or E-type of delayed fluorescences, decay of T(1) state, in other words disappearance of the T(1) state is becoming faster than at low temperature (below room temperature).     

Lifetime determination of fluorescence and phosphorescence of a series of oligofluorenes

The photoluminescence (PL) properties of oligofluorenes with 2-ethylhexyl group in 9, 9' position in solution and as thin films were investigated by time-resolved techniques at both room temperature and 77 K. The fluorescence lifetimes of the oligomers decrease with chain length. The lifetimes tau follow the relation tau=386+808(1/n) (ps) where n is the number of fluorene units in the oligomer. Concentration and laser excitation energy dependences of PL spectra of the oligofluorenes are also given. Phosphorescence was observed for oligofluorenes in the frozen matrix of MTHF at 77 K. The lifetime of phosphorescence increases with increasing molecular length. Similar emission bands were observed for oligofluorenes with a central ketogroup. A lifetime analysis clearly reveals that the "green emission" of the oligomers free of ketogroups results from a phosphorescence with lifetime tau of 3 ms while the green emission from the keto-oligomer is a fluorescence from a charge transfer pi-pi* level of tau=8 ns.     

Temperature-dependent energy gap of the primary charge separation in photosystem I: study of delayed fluorescence at 77-268 K

The dynamics of fluorescence decay and charge recombination were studied in the ether-extracted photosystem I reaction center isolated from spinach with picosecond resolution over a wide time range up to 100 ns. At all temperatures from 268 to 77 K, a slow fluorescence decay component with a 30-40 ns lifetime was detected. This component was interpreted as a delayed fluorescence emitted from the singlet excited state of the primary donor P700*, which is repopulated through charge recombination that was increased by the lack of secondary acceptor phylloquinone in the sample. Analysis of the fluorescence kinetics allowed estimation of the standard free-energy difference -DeltaG between P700* and the primary radical pair (P700(+)A0(-)) state over a wide temperature range. The values of -DeltaG were estimated to be 160/36 meV at 268/77 K, indicating its high sensitivity to temperature. A temperature-dependent -DeltaG value was also estimated in the delayed fluorescence of the isolated photosystem I in which the secondary acceptor quinone was partially prereduced by preillumination in the presence of dithionite. The results revealed that the temperature-dependent -DeltaG is a universal phenomenon common with the purple bacterial reaction centers, photosystem II and photosystem I reaction centers.     

LOW-TEMPERATURE LUMINESCENCE SPECTRA AND FLUORESCENCE LIFETIMES OF POLYCYTIDYLIC ACID IN POLYALCOHOLIC GLASSES

Abstract— Corrected emission spectra and fluorescence lifetimes of polycytidylic acid in ethylene glycol: water glass at low temperatures are reported. Luminescence properties observed exhibit a strong dependence on pH and temperature. At neutral pH a vibronic structure of a blue part of the fluorescence spectrum is revealed when temperature is changed from 77 to 10 K, confirming that a monomer component of fluorescence is present. There is also a strong difference in decay of a red-shifted excimer fluorescence at 10 K at pH 7 and pH 3.9, reflecting a different protonation of cytosine residues and different conformations of polynucleotides in such conditions.     

RESOLUTION OF SPECTRAL AND LIFETIME HETEROGENEITY OF TRYPTOPHAN FLUORESCENCE IN BACTERIORHODOPSIN

Abstract— The picosecond time-resolved fluorescence decay of bacteriorhodopsin (BR) was analyzed by the maximum entropy method. Results showed five distributions of lifetimes indicating at least five decay components. A wavelength-dependent study of emission decay of BR was carried out in the wavelength region from 310 to 390 nm. The decay at each wavelength was resolvable into four decay components by the discrete exponential analysis. The three short lifetime components (100 ± 20 ps, 400 ± 50 ps and 1.0 ± 0.1 ns) were independent of wavelength, whereas the longest lifetime component was wavelength dependent (varying from 4.1 ns at 310 nm to 5.7 ns at 390 nm). These results are inconsistent with the existing model of associating the fluorescence of bacteriorhodopsin with two or four lifetime components. An attempt is made to associate the five decay components with the emitting tryptophans of BR.     

PICOSECOND FLUORESCENCE STUDY OF PHOTOSYNTHETIC MUTANTS OF Chlamydomonas reinhardii: ORIGIN OF THE FLUORESCENCE DECAY KINETICS OF CHLOROPLASTS

Abstract— The fluorescence decay kinetics of photosynthetic mutants of Chlamydomonas reinhardii which lack photosystem II (PS II), photosystem I (PS I), and both PS II and PS I have been measured. The PS II mutant strain8–36C exhibits fluorescence decay lifetime components of 53, 424 and 2197 ps. The fluorescence decay of a PS I mutant strain12–7 contains two major fluorescence decay components with lifetimes of 152 and 424 ps. The fluorescence decay of mutant strain C2, which lacks both PS II and PS I, is nearly single exponential with a lifetime of 2561 ± 222 ps. In simulations in which it is assumed that wild-type decays are a simple sum of the major decay components of the isolated parts of the photosynthetic unit as measured in the mutants, curves are obtained that fit the wild-type C. reinhardii fluorescence decay data when the absorption cross-sections of PS II and PS I are weighted approximately equally. The 89 ps lifetime component in the wild-type is an average of 53 and 152 ps components arising from excitation transfer to and trapping in PS I and PS II. The single step transfer time in PS I is estimated to be between 100 and 700 fs depending on assumptions about array size. We find that between two and four visits to the PS I reaction center are required before final trapping.     

Fluorescence reabsorption in anthracene single crystals: Lifetime variations with emission wavelength and temperature

Fluorescence spectra and lifetimes of anthracene melt-grown single crystals and sublimation flakes have been examined at 298 and 77°K, using a mono-photon counting technique for the lifetime measurements. The observed emission decay times were nearly independent of the excitation wavelength, though a small dependence of the fluorescence spectrum on the excitation wavelength was noted. By contrast, large variations of fluorescence lifetimes in thick crystals were found as a function of emission wavelength. For thick melt-grown single crystals at 298°K the lifetime was found to increase from 9.8 nsec at 405 nm to 20.4 nsec at 445 nm. For sublimation flakes at 77°K and at 298°K and for thick melt-grown crystals at 77°K, the lifetimes were less than 10 nsec and were nearly independent of emission wavelength. Despite these relatively large variations in lifetimes, the decay rates at each separate wavelength remained exponential, within experimental error. Theoretical calculations were made of emission lifetimes based on a model with one reabsorbing state. The calculations are in substantial agreement with the experimental results.     

PICOSECOND FLUORESCENCE STUDIES OF P700-ENRICHED PARTICLES OF SPINACH CHLOROPLASTS

Dynamic properties of the picosecond fluorescence of highly enriched reaction-center particles of photosystem I (8 - 10 chlorophylls/P700) prepared from spinach have been investigated. The number (N) of photons used to excite chlorophyll molecules per reaction center was controlled between 0.06 and 80. The 1/e lifetime was ca. 25 ps for N 1. which is much shorter than previously measured lifetimes of photosystem I particles. The initial fluorescence intensity saturated at higher excitation intensities (N ≲ 1). This was interpreted in terms of interaction and annihilation among excited chlorophyll molecules which occur almost entirely within the duration of a laser flash. The spectrum-resolved fluorescence decay was faster at 690 than at 680 nm. This implies that two kinds of antenna chlorophylls, apart from and in close proximity to P700, have different lifetimes. Upon heat treatment a component with a much longer fluorescence decay time was observed. The growth of this component upon heat treatment at increasing temperatures showed a correlation with a decrease in the amount of P700 that could be photooxidized.     

Assembly of Photosystem I and II during the Early Phases of Light-Induced Development of Chloroplasts from Proplastids in Spirodela oligorrhiza

The aquatic higher plant Spirodela oligorrhiza , which contains proplastids when grown in the dark, was used to study light-dependent chloroplast development. Low-temperature (77 K) and room temperature fluorescence were utilized in situ on whole plants to examine plastid development. The dark-grown plants contain two 77 K fluorescence peaks, at 633 nm (F633) and at 657 nm (F657), with F633 dominating. The F657 species represents protochlorophyllide that is bound to protochloro-phyllide oxidoreductase. It was rapidly phototrans-formed to chlorophyllide (within 5 s) via a monomolec-ular reaction. Free protochlorophyllide (F633) was converted to chlorophyllide during a 3 h exposure to light. Photosystem (PS) assembly in Spirodela could be detected 2 h after the plants were first exposed to light, with the PSII reaction center (77 K fluorescence at 684 nm) appearing slightly before the PSI reaction center (77 K fluorescence at 725 nm). After the first reaction centers were formed the antenna complexes were added; the light-harvesting complex (LHC) I of PSI appeared after 8 h, and 47 kDa chlorophyll protein of PSII appeared between 12 h and 24 h. After 30 h of exposure to light, the plants acquired the ability to perform a light state transition, marking the appearance of functional LHCII complexes in the developing chloroplast. Finally, it was found that photosynthetic activity, as measured by room temperature chlorophyll fluorescence, accelerated con-comitantly with detection of the antenna complexes. Therefore, although reaction centers are detected very early during the proplastid to chloroplast conversion, they may have little activity or be unstable until the antennae are present.     

Ultrafast energy transfer in light-harvesting chlorosomes from the green sulfur bacterium Chlorobium tepidum

Two independent pump-probe techniques were used to study the antenna energy transfer kinetics of intact chlorosomes from the green sulfur bacterium Chlorobium tepidum with femtosecond resolution. The isotropic kinetics revealed by one-color experiments in the BChl c antenna were inhomogeneous with respect to wavelength. Multiexponential analyses of the photobleaching/stimulated emission (PB/SE) decay profiles typically yielded (apart from a approximately 10 fs component that may stem from the initial coherent oscillation) components with lifetimes 1-2 ps and several tens of ps. The largest amplitudes for the latter component occur at 810 nm, the longest wavelength studied. Analyses of most two-color pump-probe profiles with the probe wavelength red-shifted from the pump wavelength yielded no PB/SE rise components. PB/SE components with approximately 1 ps risetime were found in 790 --> 810 and 790 --> 820 nm profiles, in which the probe wavelength is situated well into the BChl a absorption region. A 760 --> 740 nm uphill two-color experiment yielded a PB/SE component with 4-6 ps risetime. Broadband absorption difference spectra of chlorosomes excited at 720 nm (in the blue edge of the 746 nm BChl c Qy band) exhibit approximately 15 nm red-shifting of the PB/SE peak wavelength during the first several hundred fs. Analogous spectra excited at 760 nm (at the red edge) show little dynamic spectral shifting. Our results suggest that inhomogeneous broadening and spectral equilibration play a larger role in the early BChl c antenna kinetics in chlorosomes from C. tepidum than in those from C. aurantiacus, a system studied previously. As in C. aurantiacus, the initial one-color anisotropies r(0) for most BChl c wavelengths are close to 0.4. The corresponding residual anisotropies r(infinity) are typically 0.19-0.25, which is much lower than found in C. aurantiacus (> or = 0.35); the transition moment organization is appreciably less collinear in the BChl c antenna of C. tepidum. However, the final one-color anisotropies at 789 and 801 nm are approximately 0 and 0.09 respectively, and the final anisotropy in time 780 --> 800 nm experiment is approximately -0.1. These facts indicate that the BChI a transition moments themselves exhibit some order, and are directed at an angle > 54.7 degrees on the average from the BChl c moments. The one-color profiles exhibit coherent oscillations at most wavelengths, including 800 nm; Fourier analyses of these oscillations frequently yield components with frequencies 70-80 and 130-140 cm-1.     

PHOTOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF COVALENTLY-LINKED PORPHYRIN-QUINONE COMPLEXES*

Abstract— The fluorescence properties of a covalently-linked porphyrin-quinone complex and its zinc derivative were studied in a variety of organic solvents. The kinetics of fluorescence decay for both the quinone and hydroquinone oxidation states were measured in acetonitrile, dichloromethane, dimethyl-formamide, and pentane. The fluorescence yield and kinetics of decay at room temperature were little affected in the porphyrin or zinc porphyrin complexes when the attached quinone was reduced. However, for these complexes the fluorescence yield and lifetimes were both substantially decreased in acetonitrile and dichloromethane when the quinone was in its oxidized state. These latter decay kinetics were not explainable by a process having a single exponential decay. On the other hand, little fluorescence quenching or lifetime shortening was observed in dimethylformamide or pentane, indicating unique solvent dependencies for the quenching process. Evidence was obtained for photoproduced charge separation from EPR measurements on the covalently-linked zinc porphyrin-quinone complex. The EPR data showed equivalent concentrations of a Zn porphyrin cation radical and a benzoquinone anion radical in acetonitrile or dichloromethane at both room temperature and 77 K. The charge separated state rapidly decayed at room temperature (in sub-millisecond times) but was quite stable at 77 K. It is concluded that light-induced charge separation in acetonitrile and dichloromethane at room temperature may occur from the excited singlet state with a high quantum efficiency. A photoproduced charge separated state also occurred when the covalently-linked complexes were incorporated into egg yolk phosphatidylcholine liposomes. The quantum yield for radical formation in this latter system was 0.1 and the lifetimes of the radical species formed were many minutes.     

THE PRIMARY REACTION IN THE PHOTOREDUCTION OF PROTOCHLOROPHYLLIDE MONITORED BY NANOSECOND FLUORESCENCE MEASUREMENTS

Abstract— Time resolved fluorescence measurements, carried out on protochlorophyllide reductase enriched membranes from oat ( Avena sativa ), are described. A fast (1 ns at 293 K) decaying fluorescence component is assigned to the photoactive NADPH-protochlorophyllide-enzyme complex, while a slower (5 ns) component is ascribed to non-photoactive protochlorophyllide. The results are interpreted in terms of a new fast primary step in the light requiring step of chlorophyll synthesis. The temperature dependence of the rate of this reaction has been studied by measuring the decay time of the fast fluorescence component at various temperatures from 77 to 293 K. Complete spectra of the kinetic fluorescence components have been measured at 293, 160 and 77 K.     

Excited States and Charge Separation in Membranes of the Green Sulfur Bacterium Prosthecochloris aestuarii

Time-resolved absorbance changes were measured in isolated membranes, depleted of chlorosomes, and in the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) complex of the green sulfur bacterium Prosthecochloris aestuarri. The isolated FMO complex showed a biphasic decay of excited bacteriochlorophyll a (BChl a) with time constants of about 80 and 1400 ps. Approximately the same time constants were observed upon excitation of isolated membranes together with a component of about 30 ps. It is concluded that the efficiency of energy transfer from the FMO to the core complex is very low, in agreement with earlier measurements of the efficiency of charge separation. The 30 ps decay component is ascribed to trapping of the excitation energy from the core BChl a by the reaction center.     

The dependence of singlet exciton relaxation on excitation density and temperature in polycrystalline tetracene thin films: kinetic evidence for a dark intermediate state and implications for singlet fission

The excited state dynamics of polycrystalline tetracene films are studied using femtosecond transient absorption in combination with picosecond fluorescence, continuing work reported in an earlier paper [J. J. Burdett, A. M. Muller, D. Gosztola, and C. J. Bardeen, J. Chem. Phys. 133, 144506 (2010)]. A study of the intensity dependence of the singlet state decay is conducted to understand the origins of the discrepancy between the broadband transient absorption and fluorescence experiments seen previously. High-sensitivity single channel transient absorption experiments allow us to compare the transient absorption dynamics to the fluorescence dynamics measured at identical laser fluences. At high excitation densities, an exciton-exciton annihilation rate constant of ~1 × 10(-8) cm(3) s(-1) leads to rapid singlet decays, but at excitation densities of 2 × 10(17) cm(-3) or less the kinetics of the transient absorption match those of the fluorescence. At these lower excitation densities, both measurements confirm that the initially excited singlet state relaxes with a decay time of 80 ± 3 ps, not 9.2 ps as claimed in the earlier paper. In order to investigate the origin of the singlet decay, the wavelength-resolved fluorescence dynamics were measured at 298 K, 77 K, and 4 K. A high-energy J-type emitting species undergo a rapid (~100 ps) decay at all temperatures, while at 77 K and 4 K additional species with H-type and J-type emission lineshapes have much longer lifetimes. A global analysis of the wavelength-dependent decays shows that the initial ~100 ps decay occurs to a dark state and not via energy transfer to lower energy bright states. Varying the excitation wavelength from 400 nm to 510 nm had no effect on the fast decay, suggesting that there is no energy threshold for the initial singlet relaxation. The presence of different emitting species at different temperatures means that earlier interpretations of the fluorescence behavior in terms of one singlet state that is short-lived due to singlet fission at high temperatures but long-lived at lower temperatures are probably too simplistic. The presence of a rapid singlet decay at all temperatures indicates that the initially created J-type singlet exciton decays to an intermediate that only produces free triplets (and delayed fluorescence) at high temperatures.