Photosynthetica 2023, 61(1):37-47 | DOI: 10.32615/ps.2023.006

On the evolution of the concept of two light reactions and two photosystems for oxygenic photosynthesis: A personal perspective

G. GOVINDJEE
Department of Plant Biology, Department of Biochemistry, and Center of Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, 61801 Illinois, USA

I present here a personal perspective of the evolution of the two-light reaction two-pigment scheme for the electron transport in oxygenic photosynthesis - as I have lived through it - first as a graduate student of Robert Emerson, from September 1956-January 1959, and then of Eugene Rabinowitch from February 1959-September 1960. I have provided here some of the key published work in my way and have also provided a few photographs. It is essential to remind ourselves upfront that different individuals may have different recollections of the same event (see e.g., the Japanese movie 'Rashomon' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashomon). Thus, I encourage others to write about their perspective. Further, I recognize, upfront, the support and encouragement I have received from Robert Blankenship for writing this perspective, and from Gyõzõ Garab for submission of this story to Photosynthetica. I begin my perspective with a dedication to Robert Emerson, whose pioneering work led to the concept of the two-light reaction two-pigment system in oxygenic photosynthesis.

Additional key words: Bessel Kok; cytochromes; Emerson enhancement effect; Louis N.M. Duysens; P700; red drop in photosynthesis; Robert (Robin) Hill; Z-scheme.

Received: January 4, 2023; Accepted: January 16, 2023; Prepublished online: February 16, 2023; Published: April 13, 2023  Show citation

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GOVINDJEE, G. (2023). On the evolution of the concept of two light reactions and two photosystems for oxygenic photosynthesis: A personal perspective. Photosynthetica, 61(1), 37-47. doi: 10.32615/ps.2023.006
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