The main function of the photosynthetic process is to capture solar energy and to store it in the form of chemical 'fuels'. Increasingly, the photosynthetic machinery is being used for the production of biofuels such as bio-ethanol, biodiesel and bio-H2. Fuel production efficiency is directly dependent on the solar photon capture and conversion efficiency of the system. Green algae (e.g. Chlamy...

We have investigated the adaptation of the light-harvesting system of the photosynthetic bacterium Phaeospirillum molischianum (DSM120) to very low light conditions. This strain is able to respond to changing light conditions by differentially modulating the expression of a family of puc operons that encode for peripheral light-harvesting complex (LH2) polypeptides. This modulation can result i...

The macromolecular pigment-protein complex has the merit of high efficiency for light-energy capture and transfer after long-term photosynthetic evolution. Here bio-dyes of A. platensis photosystem I (PSI) and spinach light-harvesting complex II (LHCII) are spontaneously sensitized on three types of designed TiO2 films, to assess the effects of pigment-protein complex on the performance of bio-...

Pursuing a high power conversion efficiency with no sacrifice of cost-effectiveness has been a persistent objective for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). One promising solution to this impasse is increased light harvesting. Previous efforts in light harvesting have been made on setting blocking layers or reflecting layers, or adding a light harvester, resulting in tedious procedures without r...

Organic solar cells have unique properties that make them very attractive as a renewable energy source. Of particular interest are semi-transparent cells, which have the potential to be integrated into building façades yet not completely block light. However, making organic cells transparent limits the metal electrode thickness to a few nanometres, drastically reducing its reflectivity and the ...

State transitions in photosynthesis provide for the dynamic allocation of a mobile fraction of light-harvesting complex II (LHCII) to photosystem II (PSII) in state I and to photosystem I (PSI) in state II. In the state I-to-state II transition, LHCII is phosphorylated by STN7 and associates with PSI to favor absorption cross-section of PSI. Here, we used Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) muta...