Computer simulation on kinetics of primary process in photosynthesis of algae (IV)——Excitation energy transfer in phycobilisomes from blue-green algae

Abstract

A more exact model of phycobilisomes has been designed with the rods composed of the hexamer disks and an abstract allophycocyanin (APC) core. Based on this model, the excitation energy transfer was simulated using the computer simulation technique. The simulation shows that the excitation energy is transferred from the outlayer disk to the core in a partly reversible way in phycobilisomes, and that the transfer rate from the last disk to the core is less than those between disks. The energy transfer between the two trimers in a hexamer is dominantly through the α84-chromophores (m), while that between the disks is through the β84-chromophores (f) that are also responsible for the transfer of energy into the core.