Mathematical and computer modeling of primary photosynthetic processes

Abstract

We review the recent research on kinetic and direct multiparticle modeling of the processes in the photosynthetic membrane conducted at the Chair of Biophysics of the Biological Faculty, Moscow State University. The models take into account the modern experimental data on the heterogeneous structure and the kinetic characteristics of the system. The generalized kinetic model describes the processes in multisubunit complexes (photosystems I and II, the cytochrome complex), the coupled transmembrane ion fluxes and generation of the electrical and electrochemical potentials. Identification of the model parameters allows estimation of the rate constants for reactions that cannot be examined experimentally. Multiparticle models provide a vivid picture of the interaction between the electron transport chain components in the thylakoid lumen and stroma, and explicitly represent Brownian diffusion and electrostatic interactions between electron carriers. Combination of different description methods (differential equations and the Brownian dynamics formalism) makes it possible to model, in the complicated 3D environment of the plant cell, the processes that in the aggregate ensure the high efficacy of energy transduction in photosynthesis.