Carotenoids in Photosynthesis: An Historical Perspective

Abstract

SummaryThis chapter presents a personal historical perspective of the role of carotenoids in photosynthesis. It leads the reader into the early literature on the carotenoids and photosynthesis that are related to the discoveries on the excitation energy transfer and, to a lesser extent, on photoprotection. Excitation energy transfer from the carotenoid fucoxanthin to chlorophyll (Chl) a was shown first in the diatoms by H. Dutton, W. M. Manning and B. M. Duggar, in 1943, at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. After the extensive researches of E. C. Wassink (in the Netherlands) on this topic, the classical doctoral thesis of L. N. M. Duysens became available in 1952, at the State University in Utrecht. This thesis dealt with the evidence of excitation energy transfer in many photosynthetic systems, including anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria. The experiments of R. Emerson and C. M. Lewis, done at the Carnegie Institute of Washington, Stanford, California, in the 1940s, dealt with the quantum yield action spectra of photosynthesis. In these experiments, the famous red drop phenomenon was discovered; further, the authors showed here the low efficiency of carotenoids in the photosynthesis of both green algae and blue-green algae (cyanobacteria). In 1956, R. Stanier and his coworkers discovered, at the University of California at Berkeley, a special role of carotenoids in protection against death in phototrophic bacteria. Finally, in 1962, H. Yamamoto (of Hawaii) pioneered the role of xanthophyll cycle pignents in photoprotection. This was followed by key experiments and concepts from B. Demmig-Adams (1987, now in Colorado), and O. Bjökman (at California), among others mentioned in the text. In 1954, a 515 nm absorbance change was discovered by Duysens (1954) and has now become a quantitative measure of the membrane potential changes in photosynthesis. Historial aspects of some of the basic principles of light absorption and excitation energy transfer, and references to selected current literature are also included in this chapter to allow the reader to link the past with the present.