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Simplicity in complexity: the photosynthetic reaction center performs as a simple 0.2 V battery
Author(s) -
van Rotterdam Bart J.,
Crielaard Wim,
van Stokkum Ivo H.M.,
Hellingwerf Klaas J.,
Westerhoff Hans V.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(01)03210-0
Subject(s) - photosynthetic reaction centre , simplicity , simple (philosophy) , photosynthesis , battery (electricity) , energy (signal processing) , photon , center (category theory) , chemistry , electrochemical potential , transmembrane protein , electrochemistry , physics , biological system , photochemistry , biophysics , atomic physics , optics , biology , quantum mechanics , biochemistry , electrode , philosophy , power (physics) , receptor , epistemology , crystallography
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.