MadSci Network: General Biology
Query:

Re: some questions about chlorophyll

Date: Sat Mar 18 18:07:01 2000
Posted By: Todd Holland, Grad student, Biophysics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Area of science: General Biology
ID: 952773270.Gb
Message:

Well, unfortunately photosynthesis isn't that simple. It is actually quite 
complicated. Chlorophyll is only one part in the photosynthetic machinery, 
and its job is to absorb light and pass the energy from it on to the next 
part of the system. The rest of the components of photosynthesis must be 
there to be able to convert the light into a useful and stable form of 
energy rich chemicals. Here is a link with alot of background material on 
photosynthesis to show you what I mean:
 
http://photoscience.la.asu.edu/photosyn/education/learn.html

They also talk about synthetic approaches to photosynthesis near the bottom 
of this page:
  
http://photoscience.la.asu.edu/photosyn/education/photointro.html

And there are several links related to nanotechnology and how artificial 
photosynthesis might be used with it here:
 
http://photoscience.la.asu.edu/rtg/default.html

Chlorophyll can be extracted intact from leaves, but it isn't very useful 
alone. However, entire photosynthetic reaction centers and electron 
transport chains can also be isolated intact, and there might be ways to 
use them in artificial systems. I am involved in research at the University 
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where we are trying to couple a synthetic 
molecule that behaves much like chlorophyll, to a protein called the 
cytochrome bc1 complex. The bc1 complex is a part of the photosynthetic 
machinery in some organisms, and is a part of the electron transport chain 
in mitochondria also. It is used to convert energy from chemical bonds into 
a proton gradient across a membrane. This gradient is then used by other 
enzymes to do work. The bc1 complex also moves electrons across the 
membrane, which adds to the strength of the gradient created. Here is a 
page on the bc1 complex:
 
http://www.life.uiuc.edu/crofts/bc-complex_site/

My part of the work centers in linking the bc1 complex to a gold surface, 
which can act as an electrode and accept the electrons that the bc1 complex 
pumps. I hope that this work helps lead to integrated systems, much like 
todays computer chips, that have both biological and non-biological 
components, and that get the energy for both types of components from 
sunlight. Nature has a huge lead on us in the nanotechnology game, and I 
see no reason not to take advantage of the systems that she has provided 
for us already, instead of trying to reinvent our own. Hope you find the 
information here interesting, and hope I answered your questions. If not, 
feel free to e-mail me. Thanks.
Todd Holland



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