STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL INTEGRITY OF THE PHOTOSYSTEM II REACTION CENTER ON SILVER ELECTRODES: FLUORESCENCE AND REDOX PROBES

Two simple and sensitive methods have been developed to assess the structural and functional integrity of isolated photosystem II reaction centers deposited on a roughened Ag electrode. Surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) spectra useful for ascertaining structural information can be obtained from biological materials with this technique. The first method presented is based on observing differences in the fluorescence emission properties of reaction centers; these depend on the activity of the material. The second is based on the observation of changes in Raman bands that are sensitive to the redox state of cytochrome b₅₅₉ present in the reaction center complex. It is concluded that the conditions used here to obtain SERRS spectra do not affect the structural or functional integrity of the isolated photosystem II reaction center complex. In principle these approaches also could be used with other chromoproteins.