MicroMod-PSII · Microscopic modelling of the highly efficient intra- and inter-antennae energy transfer to the reaction centre in plant photosystem II
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2017-04-01 → 2019-03-31
- EU contribution
- €165,599
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
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Results in brief
Microscopic modelling of the highly efficient intra- and inter-antennae energy transfer to the reaction centre in plant photosystem II
The research project MicroMod-PSII focussed on natural photosynthesis in plants. The development of photosynthesis was one of the key steps for the evolution of higher forms of life on earth providing nutrition to the predominant majority of living organisms. During photosynthesis, light energy from the sun is collected by antenna proteins and processed via multiple steps by highly specialized protein machineries. In the first step, so-called antenna proteins capture the light and transmit its energy to the reaction center of photosystem II. The latter performs the initial transformation to store the energy in a chemical way. The capturing and transmission of light energy is a delicate process which requires specialized molecules – the chlorophylls – and moreover, a precise arrangement of these chlorophylls. The protein machineries involved in photosynthesis arrange hundreds of chlorophylls in such an optimized way that almost every excitation event is successfully transmitted to the reaction center. Remarkably, this high efficiency occurs in a flexible material – the leafs – which has to continuously adapt to the light conditions. Artificial photosynthesis has been trying to adapt the concept of nature for many years. However, in contrast to natural photosynthesis, artificial devices still suffer from multiple loss pathways which reduce their efficiency. Any reduction or suppression of these loss pathways to improve the overall efficiency would advance the energy transition to renewable energy. MicroMod-PSII set out to investigate structural fluctuations of the protein machineries involved in photosynthesis. For example, vibrations of proteins or interactions with neighbouring molecules cause small atom movements which slightly change the structure. These slight changes cause structural fluctuations. The goal of MicroMod-PSII was to unravel how the proteins manage to perform photosynthesis with high efficiency despite their structural fluctuations. This is of interest because the structural fluctuations alter the arrangement of the chlorophylls involved in light capturing and transmission. Altered chlorophyll arrangements result in changed conditions for light capturing and energy transmission. A complete suppression of these fluctuations is not possible in living organisms. A better understanding how highly efficient photosynthesis is possible in the presence of structural fluctuations can lead to an improvement of artificial photosynthesis.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
MicroMod-PSII aims to provide an unprecedented microscopic, structure-based understanding of the excitation energy transfer mechanism in plant photosystem II (PSII) from the outer antennae complexes to the reaction centre under physiological conditions. It will unravel nature’s highly sophisticated way of harvesting sunlight in unrivalled detail.Within the framework of MicroMod-PSII, the first-ever coarse grained molecular dynamics simulations at almost atomistic resolution of PSII supercomplexes in thylakoid membrane patches will be performed. Based thereon, the intra- and inter-antennae excitation energy transfer toward the reaction centre will be modelled using high-level ab initio quantum chemistry. For this purpose, a procedure will be developed to transform coarse grained molecular dynamics snapshots into atomistic structures best suited for quantum chemical calculations. The calculated chromophore properties will provide a detailed understanding of the interplay between rigorous, highly conserved structural organisation and dynamic flexibility at the protein-protein interfaces and its impact on the outstanding light harvesting properties of PSII. The overall strategy developed during MicroMod-PSII can emerge as an important tool for computational biology as it allows modelling of a wide variety of reactions in the electronic ground or excited state catalysed by protein supercomplexes.During MicroMod-PSII, the researcher will acquire extensive expertise in state-of-the-art coarse grain molecular dynamics and will transfer knowledge in quantum chemistry and quantum dynamics to the host group. The improvement of complementary skills such as scientific management, networking, public engagement and team leadership will significantly develop the researcher. Together with the broad knowledge of state-of-the-art simulation techniques covering multiple time and length scales, this will provide excellent preparation for the researcher’s next scientific career step.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- RIJKSUNIVERSITEIT GRONINGEN · GroningenCoordinatorNetherlands
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union