Unifying Light Induced Processes in Biology: Isomerization in Vision and Energy Transfer in Photosynthesis
Abstract
Processes initiated by the absorption of light play a fundamental role in biology. Prominent examples include visual perception and photosynthesis, wherein the initial photoexcitation induces a series of molecular events in the excited state that trigger subsequent chemical processes. From a fundamental perspective both of these processes couple the incident radiation to the protein environment through the active molecular chromophore. For example, in human vision the incident light causes the photoisomerization of retinal, leading to visual transduction and visual perception. Analogously, absorption of light by photosynthetic chromophores leads to either energy or charge transfer and subsequent chemical reactions. Both of these phenomena are ubiquitous in nature and occur with a variety of molecular chromophores and a variety of protein environments. In this high risk high reward proposal we initiate a study designed to explore possible fundamental relationships between the two light induced processes of vision and photosynthetic light harvesting. Recognizing that the interaction between the system and the environment plays a fundamental role in the biological function of these systems, we propose an experimental and theoretical focus on the spectral density J(?), a central mathematical function describing the interaction between the molecular chromophore and its surrounding environment. The proposed theoretical-computational studies, coupled with state of the art fluorescence detected two dimensional electronic spectroscopy measurements, are expected to provide deep insights into the nature of system environment interactions in biological light induced processes.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 14, 2022
- Source ID
- FA95501910267
Entities
People
- Jennifer P Ogilvie
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Board of Regents of the University of Michigan
- United States Air Force