Light-oxygen-voltage (LOV) domains sense blue light through the photochemical formation of a cysteinyl-flavin covalent adduct. Concurrent protonation at the flavin N5 position alters the hydrogen bonding interactions of an invariant Gln residue that has been proposed to flip its amide side chain as a critical step in the propagation of conformational change. Traditional molecular dynamics (MD) ...

We characterize changes in isomeric states of the retinylidene chromophore during light-dark adaptation and photochemical reactions of Anabaena (Nostoc) sp. PCC7120 sensory rhodopsin (ASR). The results show that ASR represents a new type of microbial rhodopsin with a number of unusual characteristics. The three most striking are: (i) a primarily all-trans configuration of retinal in the dark-ad...

Light is a central regulator of plant growth and development. Among the processes triggered by blue and UV-A light, phototropism, stomatal movement, and chloroplast orientation rely on the activation of blue-light receptors known as phototropins. So far, these photoreceptors constitute a class of light receptor kinases unique to the plant kingdom. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the two members phot1 ...

Functional and ultrastructural studies have indicated that the components of the photosynthetic apparatus of Rhodobacter sphaeroides are highly organized. This organization favors rapid electron transfer that is unimpeded by reactant diffusion. The light-harvesting complexes only partially surround the photochemical reaction center, which ensures an efficient shuttling of quinones between the p...

Bacteriorhodopsin (BR) is a retinal protein that is a light-driven proton pump and has an important role in photosynthesis in archaebacterium Halobacterium salinarum. The BR molecule absorbs light and photochemical changes occur in it, and different intermediates will be produced in its photochemical cycle that some of them like P and Q intermediates have a long half-life. There have been many ...

The aim of this study is to evaluate the  effects of water deficit stress on chlorophyll fluorescence (CF) characteristics of photosystem II (PSII) and pigment contents in two rootstock seedlings (Pistacia atlantica L. and P. khinjuk L.). Three levels of soil water potential (Ψs) was used, including WWD (-0.05 MPa), MWD (-0.7 MPa) and SWD (-1.5 MPa). It was found that water stress increased the...

The effects of black rice anthocyanidins (BRACs) on retinal damage induced by photochemical stress are not well known. In the present study, Sprague-Dawley rats were fed AIN-93M for 1 week, after which 80 rats were randomly divided into two groups and treated with (n = 40) or without BRACs (n = 40) for 15 days, respectively. After treatment, both groups were exposed to fluorescent light (3,000 ...

The use of photochemical transformations is a powerful strategy that allows for the formation of a high degree of molecular complexity from relatively simple building blocks in a single step. A central feature of all light-promoted transformations is the involvement of electronically excited states, generated upon absorption of photons. This produces transient reactive intermediates and signifi...

Seven-day-old dark-grown bean leaves were greened under continuous light. The amount of chlorophyll, the ratio of chlorophyll a to chlorophyll b, the O(2) evolving capacity and the primary photochemical activities of Photosystem I and Photosystem II were measured on the leaves after various times of greening. The primary photochemical activities were measured as the photo-oxidation of P(700), t...