Direct observation of the (forbidden) S-1 state in carotenoids
Author
Summary, in English
Carotenoids are involved in a variety of biological functions, yet the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood, in part because of the long-standing difficulty in assigning the location of the first excited (S-1) state. Here, we present a method for determining the energy of the forbidden S-1 state, on the basis of ultrafast spectroscopy of the short lived level. Femtosecond transient absorption spectra and kinetics of the S-1 --> S-2 transition revealed the location of the intermediate level in two carotenoid species involved in the xanthophyll cycle, zeaxanthin and violaxanthin, and yielded surprising implications regarding the mechanism of photoregulation in photosynthesis.
Publishing year
1999
Language
English
Pages
4914-4917
Publication/Series
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Volume
96
Issue
9
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Topic
- Biological Sciences
- Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics
Keywords
- dependence
- photophysics
- fluorescence
- spectroscopy
- energy
- photosynthesis
- spheroidene
- dissipation
- xanthophyll cycle
- internal-conversion rate
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1091-6490