Energy transfer between the carotenoid and the bacteriochlorophyll within the B-800-850 light-harvesting pigment-protein complex of Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides.

Energy transfer between carotenoid and bacteriochlorophyll has been studied in isolated B-800-850 antenna pigment-protein complexes from different strains of Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides which contain different types of carotenoid. Singlet-singlet energy transfer from the carotenoid to the bacteriochlorophyll is efficient (75-100%) and is rather insensitive to carotenoid type, over the range of carotenoids tested. The yield of carotenoid triplets is low (2-15%) but this arises from a low yield of bacteriochlorophyll triplet formation rather than from an inefficient triplet-triplet exchange reaction. The rate of the triplet-triplet exchange reaction between the bacteriochlorophyll and the carotenoid is fast (Ktt greater than or equal to 1.4 . 10(8) S-1) and also relatively independent of the type of carotenoid present.