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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Isolating and Incorporating Light-Harvesting Antennas from Diatom Cyclotella Meneghiniana in Liposomes with Thylakoid Lipids
Published on: August 28, 2018
Functional reconstitution of photosynthetic reaction centers in planar lipid bilayers
M Schönfeld1, M Montal, G Feher
1Department of Biology, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093.
Abstract:
Planar lipid bilayers containing reaction centers from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides R-26 were formed by apposing two reaction center-lipid monolayers formed from a reaction center-lipid complex in hexane. Secondary donors (cytochrome c) and acceptors (ubiquinone-0) were added on opposite sides of the membrane. Upon illumination, this system generated transient and steady-state voltages and currents. The wavelength dependence of the photoresponse matched the absorption spectrum of reaction centers. A simple model based on the transfer of charges across the membrane that explains the salient features of the photoresponse is presented.
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