Nanoscale regulators of photosynthesis

    Project: NWO project

    Project Details

    Description

    Photosynthetic efficiency is tightly coupled to the fitness of plants in fluctuating environmental conditions. In excess light, the balance between light excitation and substrate availability is disturbed, causing the formation of lethal reactive species. As a photo-protective response, the photosynthetic antenna switches into a ‘safety mode’ where excitations are non-photochemically quenched. The switches are triggered by particular proteins that can detect the overflow of the electron transport chain by sensing the pH of the lumenal side of the thylakoid membrane and/or altered local electric fields. This switching occurs on various time scales, ranging from seconds to minutes. When light intensity decreases again, photoprotection switches off, again on various time scales, which can take many minutes, meanwhile causing unwanted losses of excitation energy. Despite the central role of the photoprotective mechanisms in regulating energy conversion in photosynthetic cells and leaves, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain a mystery.

    We aim to reveal the nanoscale mechanisms of light-stress regulation and understand how the pH sensing protein PsbS operates from atom to organism level. To undertake this challenge, we have assembled a team of experts in the fields of molecular biology and biochemistry, advanced solid-state NMR, time-resolved infrared, 2-dimensional infrared (2D-IR) spectroscopy and ultrafast fluorescence (micro)spectroscopy, complemented by 2D-IR simulation, as well as all-atom and coarse-grain (CG) molecular dynamics. We will integrate our state-of-the-art experimental and theoretical approaches from the field of physics, chemistry and biology and push the limit for analyzing molecular structure and dynamics and nanoscale processes in truly native biological environments. The results will open smart ways for targeted engineering of plants and algae and re-wiring the excitation pathways to combine optimal photosynthetic yields with high stress tolerance as adaptation to changing environmental conditions.
    StatusActive
    Effective start/end date1/11/20 → …

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