Chlorophyll-Quinone Photochemical Electron Transfer in Liposomes

The study described involves the reduction of electron acceptors (quinones) by photoexcited Chloroplasts (Chl). Chl a (from spinach) is incorporated into phosphatidylcholine (either synthetic or from hen egg yolks) liposomes suspended in 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0). The quinones are either present during liposome formation or added later, depending upon their water solubility. The measurement technique employed is laser flash photolysis. A pulsed nitrogen laser pumps a dye laser, which delivers a short light flash (10 ns) to the sample at a wavelength (655-660 nm) within an absorption band of Chl. This raises Chl to an excited singlet level, which can rapidly cross to the lowest excited triple level (/sup 3/Chl). From this state Chl can transfer an electron to acceptors such as quinones, resulting in the formation of the Chl cation radical (Chl./sup +/) and the semiquinone anion radical (Q./sup +/). Transient absorbance changes ocurring within the sample cell are monitored and can be attributed to processes such as excited state quenching (of /sup 3/Chl by Q) and radical product formation and decay. (JMT)