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Simplicity in complexity: the photosynthetic reaction center performs as a simple 0.2 V battery
Bart J van Rotterdam1, Wim Crielaard, Ivo H M van Stokkum
1Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, BioCentrum Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 127, NL-1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
FEBS Letters
|January 5, 2002
Abstract:
The photosynthetic reaction center is one of the most complicated molecular complexes. Transducing photon energy to a transmembrane electrochemical potential difference for protons, it is the direct or indirect energy source for virtually all life. We show here that it operates in a simple, battery-like manner, with a maximum potential of 0.20 V. Intriguingly this is only one fifth of the energy of the absorbed photon.