Probing the electric field across thylakoid membranes in cyanobacteria.

ABSTRACT: In plants, algae, and some photosynthetic bacteria, the ElectroChromic Shift (ECS) of photosynthetic pigments, which senses the electric field across photosynthetic membranes, is widely used to quantify the activity of the photosynthetic chain. In cyanobacteria, ECS signals have never been used for physiological studies, although they can provide a unique tool to study the architecture and function of the respiratory and photosynthetic electron transfer chains, entangled in the thylakoid membranes. Here, we identified bona fide ECS signals, likely corresponding to carotenoid band shifts, in the model cyanobacteria Synechococcus elongatus PCC7942 and Synechocystis sp. PCC6803. These band shifts, most likely originating from pigments located in photosystem I, have highly simila

SUBMITTER: Viola S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6815183 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature