Interquinone Electron Transfer in Photosystem I As Evidenced by Altering the Hydrogen Bond Strength to the Phylloquinone(s)

The Chlorophyll a (Chl a) molecules involved in the triplet-triplet energy transfer to the central luteins in trimeric LHC-II are identified by time-resolved and pulse EPR techniques. The concept of, spin angular momentum conservation during triplet-triplet energy transfer is exploited for the calculation of the spin polarization of the carotenoid triplet states. The sites with the highest probability of forming triplet states, which are quenched by the central luteins, result to be Chl603 and Chl612. "Unquenched" Chl triplet states are produced by photoexcitation in the LHC-II complex. Putative sites of these triplet states are Chl614, Chl611, Chl604, and Chl613 since they do not contribute to the formation of the observed carotenoid triplet states.