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We present computer simulations of excited state dynamics in models of PS I and PS II which are based upon known structural and spectral properties of the antennae. In particular, these models constrain the pigment binding sites to three-dimensional volumes determined from molecular properties of the antenna complexes. The simulations demonstrate that within a 10-30 ps after light absorption, rapid energy transfer among coupled antenna chlorophylls leads to a quasiequilibrium state in which the fraction of the excited state on any antenna chlorophyll, normalized to the total excited state remaining on the model, remains constant with time. We describe this quasiequilibrium state as a "transfer equilibrium" (TE) state because of its dependence on the rates of processes that couple excited state motion and quenching in the antenna as well as on the individual antenna site energies and temperature. The TE state is not a true equilibrium in that loss of the excited state primarily due to photochemistry (but also due to fluorescence, thermal emission, and intersystem crossing) continues once TE is established. Depending on the dynamics of the system, the normalized distribution of excited state at TE may differ substantially from the Boltzmann distribution (the state of the model at infinite time in the absence of any avenues for decay of excited state). The models predict lifetimes, equilibration times, and photochemical yields that are in agreement with experimental data and affirm trap-limited dynamics in both photosystems. The rapid occurrence of TE states implies that any excited state dynamics that depends on antenna structure and excitation wavelength must occur before the TE state is established. We demonstrate that the excited state distribution of the TE state is central to determining the excited state lifetime and quantum efficiency of photochemistry.

We report femtosecond transient absorption studies of energy transfer dynamics in the B800-850 light-harvesting complex (LHC) of Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.1. For complexes solubilized in lauryldimethylamine-N-oxide (LDAO), the carotenoid to bacteriochlorophyll (Bchl) B800 and carotenoid to Bchl B850 energy transfer times are 0.34 and 0.20 ps, respectively. The B800 to B850 energy transfer time is 2.5 ps. For complexes treated with lithium dodecyl sulfate (LDS), a carotenoid to B850 energy transfer time of less than or equal to 0.2 ps is seen, and a portion of the total carotenoid population is decoupled from Bchl. In both LDAO-solubilized and LDS-treated complexes an intensity-dependent picosecond decay component of the excited B850 population is ascribed to excitation annihilation within minimal units of the LHC.

We have examined the photophysics of energy migration and trapping in photosystem I by investigating the spectral and temporal properties of the fluorescence from the core antenna chlorophylls as a function of the antenna size. Time-correlated single photon counting was used to determine the fluorescence lifetimes in the isolated P700 chlorophyll a-protein complex and in a mutant of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii that lacks the photosystem II reaction center complex. The fluorescence decay in both types of sample is dominated by a fast (15-45 psec) component that is attributed to the lifetime of excitations in the photosystem I core antenna. These excitations decay primarily by an efficient photochemical quenching on P700. The measured lifetimes show a linear relationship to the core antenna size. A linear dependence of the excitation lifetime on antenna size was predicted previously in a lattice model for excitation migration and trapping in arrays of photosynthetic pigments [Pearlstein, R.M. (1982) Photochem. Photobiol. 35, 835-844]. Based on this model, our data predict a time constant for photochemical charge separation in the photosystem I reaction center of 2.8 +/- 0.7 or 3.4 +/- 0.7 psec, assuming monomeric or dimeric P700, respectively. The predicted average single-step transfer time for excitation transfer between core antenna pigments is 0.21 +/- 0.04 psec. Under these conditions, excitation migration in photosystem I is near the diffusion limit, with each excitation making an average of 2.4 visits to the reaction center before photoconversion.

Using time-resolved single photon counting, fluorescence decay in photosystem I (PS I) was analyzed in mutant strains of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii that lack photosystem II. Two strains are compared: one with a wild-type PS I core antenna (120 chlorophyll a/P700) and a second showing an apparent reduction in core antenna size (60 chlorophyll a/P700). These data were calculated from the lifetimes of core antenna excited states (75 and 45 ps, respectively) and from pigment stoichiometries. Fluorescence decay in wild type PS I is composed of two components: a fast 75-ps decay that represents the photochemically limited lifetime of excited states in the core antenna, and a minor (less than 10%) 300-800 ps component that has spectral characteristics of both peripheral and core antenna pigments. Temporal and spectral properties of the fast PS I decay indicate that (a) excitations are nearly equilibrated among the range of spectral forms present in the PS I core antenna, (b) an average excitation visits a representative distribution of core antenna spectral forms on all pigment-binding subunits regardless of the origin of the excitation, (c) reduction in core antenna size does not alter the range of antenna spectral forms present, and (d) transfer from peripheral antennae to the PS I core complex is rapid (less than 5 ps).

The temporal and spectral properties of fluorescence decay in isolated photosystem I (PS I) preparations from algae and higher plants were measured using time-correlated single photon counting. Excitations in the PS I core antenna decay with lifetimes of 15-40 ps and 5-6 ns. The fast decay results from efficient photochemical quenching by P700, whereas the slow decay is attributed to core antenna complexes lacking a trap. Samples containing core and peripheral antenna complexes exhibited an additional intermediate lifetime (150-350 ps) decay. The PS I core antenna is composed of several spectral forms of chlorophyll a that are not temporally resolved in the decays. Analysis of the temporal and spectral properties of the decays provides a description of the composition, structure, and dynamics of energy transfer and trapping reactions in PS I. The core antenna size dependence of the spectral properties and the contributions of the spectral forms to the time-resolved decays show that energy is not concentrated in the longest wavelength absorbing pigments but is nearly homogenized among the spectral forms. These data suggest that the "funnel" description of antenna structure and energy transfer (Seely, G. R. 1973. J. Theor. Biol. 40:189-199) may not be applicable to the PS I core antenna.