Low absorption state of phycocyanin from Acaryochloris marina antenna system: On the interplay between ionic strength and excitonic coupling

Abstract

This paper studies the excitonic factor in the excited state energy transfer of phycobilisome (PBS) by using a polarized time-resolved pump-probe and by changing the ionic strength of the cofactors' medium in the PBS of Acaryochloris marina (A. marina). As a result, the interplay between the surrounding medium and the closely excited adjacent cofactors is shown to be a negligible factor of the excitonic decay kinetics at 618 nm of the phycocyanin (PC), while it appears as a driving factor of an increase in excitonic delocalization at 630 nm. The obtained anisotropy values are consistent with the contribution of ionic strength in the excitonic mechanism in PBS. These values were 0.38 in high ionic strength and 0.4 in low ionic strength at 618 nm, and 0.52 in high ionic strength and 0.4 in low ionic strength at 630-635 nm. The anisotropy value of 0.52 in high phosphate is similar at 630 nm and 635 nm, which is consistent with an excitonic delocalization band at 635 nm. The 635 nm band is suggested to show the true low energy level of PC in A. marina PBS. The anisotropy decay kinetic at 630 nm suggests that the excited state population of PC is not all equilibrated in 3 ps because of the existence of the 10 ps decay kinetic component. The presence of the slow kinetic decay component in high, and low ionic strength, is consistent with a 10 and 14 ps energy transfer pathway, while the 450 fs kinetic decay component is consistent with the presence of an additional excitation energy transfer pathway between adjacent α84 and β84. Furthermore, the 450 fs decay kinetic is suggested to be trapped in the trimer, while the 400 fs decay kinetic rules out an excitonic flow from low energy level PC to allophycoyanin. This excitonic flow may occur between β84 in adjacent trimers, towards the low energy state of the PBS rod.