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. 2017 Sep 21;22(10):1585.
doi: 10.3390/molecules22101585.

Concentration Effect on Quenching of Chlorophyll a Fluorescence by All-Trans-β-Carotene in Photosynthesis

Chen Chen  1 , Nan Gong  2 , Zuowei Li  3 , Chenglin Sun  4 , Zhiwei Men  5
Affiliations

Concentration Effect on Quenching of Chlorophyll a Fluorescence by All-Trans-β-Carotene in Photosynthesis

Chen Chen et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Absorption, fluorescence spectra of chlorophyll a (Chl-a) and all-trans-β-carotene (β-Car) mixing solution are investigated in different polarity and polarizability solvents. The carotenoids regulate the energy flow in photosynthesis by interaction with chlorophyll, leading to an observable reduction of Chl-a fluorescence. The fluorescence red shifts with the increasing solvent polarizability. The energy transfer in the Chl-a and β-Car system is proposed. The electron transfer should be dominant in quenching Chl-a fluorescence rather than the energy transfer in this system. Polar solvent with large polarizability shows high quenching efficiency. When dissolved in carbon tetrachloride, Chl-a presents red shift of absorption and blue shift of fluorescence spectra with increasing β-Car concentration, which implies a Chl-a conformational change.

Keywords: Chl-a; fluorescence; quenching; β-Car.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Absorption spectra of Chl-a and β-Car mixing solution, inset: the corresponding Chl-a fluorescence emission. The excited wavelength of the emission is 532 nm.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Stern-Volmer type plot of Chl-a and β-Car mixing in different solvents.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Proposed energy transfer scheme in Chl-a and β-Car in different solvents.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Fluorescence spectra red-shift by increasing solvent polarizability.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Absorption spectra of Chl-a and β-Car in different polarizability non-polar solvents.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Fluorescence blue-shift with increasing concentration of β-Car.
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