Purple bacteria synthesize highly symmetric protein complexes which contain bacteriochlorophyll and carotenoid pigments, and serve as molecular antennas to harvest sunlight. These antenna complexes called LH2 come in diverse shapes and sizes, but only recently a new complex with a highly unusual sevenfold symmetry was discovered. We investigated how the shape of this new LH2 complex is related to its spectroscopic properties, exploiting a combined strategy that we have developed in the last years.

Our results are published Open Access in the journal Photosynthesis Research. We could reveal how the light absorption and optical properties are determined by the structure of the antenna complex, and optimized to the benefit of each unique bacterial species.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-022-00925-8