ArticlePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2002
What is beta-carotene doing in the photosystem II reaction centre?
Article in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2002. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers.
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Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 217 citations in OpenAlex.
- Singlet Oxygen in Plants: Mechanistic Insights into Production, Oxidative Damage, and Stress-Response Signaling.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Redox potentials of carotenoids associated with type-II photosynthetic reaction centers.Plant & cell physiology · 2026Article
- Energetics of tryptophan residues in electron transfer and photoprotection of type-II photosynthetic reaction centers.PNAS nexus · 2025Article
- Antioxidants of Non-Enzymatic Nature: Their Function in Higher Plant Cells and the Ways of Boosting Their Biosynthesis.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Solar energy conversion by photosystem II: principles and structures.Photosynthesis research · 2023Review
- LED Technology Applied to Plant Development for Promoting the Accumulation of Bioactive Compounds: A Review.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Keystone microalgae species determine the removal efficiency of sulfamethoxazole: a case study ofFrontiers in plant science · 2023Article
- Primary donor triplet states of Photosystem I and II studied by Q-band pulse ENDOR spectroscopy.Photosynthesis research · 2022Article
- The Role of Photo-Cycles in the Modulation of Growth and Biochemical Profile of Microalgae: Part I-Food Interest Compounds.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Carotenoids and Apocarotenoids in Planta: Their Role in Plant Development, Contribution to the Flavour and Aroma of Fruits and Flowers, and Their Nutraceutical Benefits.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Modify Leaf Micromorphology, Chloroplast Ultrastructure and Photosynthetic Activity of Pea Plants.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Article
- Antioxidant and Signaling Role of Plastid-Derived Isoprenoid Quinones and Chromanols.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Application of Light-Emitting Diodes for Improving the Nutritional Quality and Bioactive Compound Levels of Some Crops and Medicinal Plants.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Performing photosynthesis without β-carotene.eLife · 2020Article
- Effects of Nitrogen Availability on the Antioxidant Activity and Carotenoid Content of the MicroalgaeMarine drugs · 2020Article
- Fluoxetine Arrests Growth of the Model DiatomFrontiers in microbiology · 2020Article
- Genetic Engineering for Global Food Security: Photosynthesis and Biofortification.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Review
- Early Archean origin of Photosystem II.Geobiology · 2019Article
- Singlet Oxygen Metabolism: From Genesis to Signaling.Frontiers in plant science · 2019Review
- A hypothesis about the origin of carotenoid lipid droplets in the green algae Dunaliella and Haematococcus.Planta · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
During photosynthesis carotenoids normally serve as antenna pigments, transferring singlet excitation energy to chlorophyll, and preventing singlet oxygen production from chlorophyll triplet states, by rapid spin exchange and decay of the carotenoid triplet to the ground state. The presence of two beta-carotene molecules in the photosystem II reaction centre (RC) now seems well established, but they do not quench the triplet state of the primary electron-donor chlorophylls, which are known as P(680). The beta-carotenes cannot be close enough to P(680) for triplet quenching because that would also allow extremely fast electron transfer from beta-carotene to P(+)(680), preventing the oxidation of water. Their transfer of excitation energy to chlorophyll, though not very efficient, indicates close proximity to the chlorophylls ligated by histidine 118 towards the periphery of the two main RC polypeptides. The primary function of the beta-carotenes is probably the quenching of singlet oxygen produced after charge recombination to the triplet state of P(680). Only when electron donation from water is disturbed does beta-carotene become oxidized. One beta-carotene can mediate cyclic electron transfer via cytochrome b559. The other is probably destroyed upon oxidation, which might trigger a breakdown of the polypeptide that binds the cofactors that carry out charge separation.
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