Temperature-dependent conformational changes in the bacteriopheophytins of Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centers

Resonance Raman (RR) spectra are reported for the photosynthetic reaction center (RC) protein from Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.1. The spectra were obtained with a variety of excitation wavelengths, spanning the UV, violet, and yellow-green regions of the absorption spectrum, and at a number of temperatures ranging from 30 to 270 K. The RR data indicate that the frequencies of certain vibrational modes of the bacteriochlorin pigments in the RC shift with temperature. These shifts are reversible and do not depend on external factors such as solvent or detergent. The acetyl carbonyl bands exhibit the largest shifts with temperature. These shifts are attributed to thermal effects involving the torsional vibrations of the acetyl groups of several (or all) of the bacteriochlorins rather than to specific pigment-protein interactions. The frequency of the structure-sensitive skeletal mode near 1610 cm-1 of one of the two bacteriopheophytins (BPhs) in the RC is also sensitive to temperature. In contrast, no temperature sensitivity is observed for the analogous modes of the bacteriochlorophylls or other BPhs. Over the range 160-100 K, the skeletal mode of the BPh upshifts by approximately 4 cm-1. This upshift is attributed to a flattening of the macrocycle at low temperatures. It is suggested that the BPh active in the electron-transfer process is the pigment whose structure is temperature dependent. It is further suggested that such structural changes could be responsible in part for the temperature dependence of the electron-transfer rates in photosynthetic RCs.