Photosynthetic bacteria contain bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) that absorbs light and delivers the resulting singlet excitation energy to photochemical reaction centers.' The reaction centers, which have been isolated in a form free of lightharvesting BChl,'-3 contain a photochemically specialized BChl which in Rhodopseudomonas spheroides is called P870 after its absorption maximum near 870 nm. Exc...

Recent studies of photosynthetic bacteria living in geothermal hot spring environments have revealed surprisingly complex ecosystems with an unexpected level of genetic diversity. One case of particular interest involves the distribution along hot spring thermal gradients of genetically distinct bacterial strains that differ in their preferred temperatures for reproduction and photosynthesis. I...

Photosynthetic light-harvesting antennae direct energy collected from sunlight to reaction centers with remarkable efficiency and rapidity. Despite their common function, the pigment-protein complexes that make up antenna systems in different types of photosynthetic organisms exhibit a wide variety of structural forms. Some individual organisms express different types of complexes depending on ...

The study of how photosynthetic organisms convert light offers insight not only into nature’s evolutionary process, but may also give clues as to how best to design and manipulate artificial photosynthetic systems – and also how far we can drive natural photosynthetic systems beyond normal operating conditions, so that they can harvest energy for us under otherwise extreme conditions. In additi...

In addition to the most recently reported aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacterium Chloroacidobacterium thermophilium [1], five phyla of phototrophic bacteria have been reported, including four phyla anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria (anaerobic and aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic Proteobacteria, filamentous anoxygenic phototrophs (FAPs), green sulfur bacteria and heliobacteria) and oxygenic pho...

Nitrogen Fixation. In their Communication (e202307101), Guillermo C. Bazan et al. developed a new strategy to enable light-driven nitrogen fixation in non-photosynthetic bacteria by integrating the novel conjugated oligoelectrolyte into Azotobacter vinelandii.

A theory of the origin of eukaryotic cells ("higher" cells which divide by classical mitosis) is presented. By hypothesis, three fundamental organelles: the mitochondria, the photosynthetic plastids and the (9+2) basal bodies of flagella were themselves once free-living (prokaryotic) cells. The evolution of photosynthesis under the anaerobic conditions of the early atmosphere to form anaerobic ...