PHOTOSYNTHETICA

Photosynthetica 2004, 42(3):365-370 | DOI: 10.1023/B:PHOT.0000046154.16834.0c

Monolayer Film of Phycobilisome-Thylakoid Membrane Complexes from Spirulina platensis

D. H. Li¹, S. Z. Yang¹, H. Li¹, J. Xie¹, J. Q. Zhao¹

¹ Key Laboratory of Photochemistry, Center for Molecular Science, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Monolayer films of phycobilisome-thylakoid membrane complexes isolated from Spirulina platensis were prepared at air/aqueous solution interface by using the Langmuir-Blodgett technique. The film preparation was optimized with 0.5 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) as sub-phase at 20 °C. The monolayer was transferred into grids and into mica surface for observing the surface image of the complexes by transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscope, respectively. The shape of complexes was disk-like with the diameter of about 50 nm and the thickness of about 35 nm. The absorption and fluorescence spectra of the complexes in the monolayer were consistent with those in buffer solution, which suggests that the complexes in the monolayer preserve the basic functional groups of photosynthetic apparatus and can be used as a model to investigate the structural connection and functional association of the light-harvesting antenna with the reaction centres.

Additional key words: absorption and fluorescence emission spectra; atomic force microscopy; cyanobacteria; Langmuir-Blodgett technique; transmission electron microscopy

Published: September 1, 2004  Show citation