Energy transfer and the distribution of excitation energy in the photosynthetic apparatus of spinach chloroplasts.

Equations are derived from our model of the photochemical apparatus of photosynthesis to show that the yield of energy transfer from Photosystem II to Photosystem I, phi T(II leads to I), can be obtained from measurements on an individual sample of chloroplasts frozen to -196 degrees C by comparing the sum of two specifically defined fluorescence excitation spectra with the absorption spectrum of the sample. Then, given that value of phiT(II leads to I), the fraction of the quanta absorbed by the photochemical apparatus which is distributed initially to Photosystem I, alpha, can be determined as a function of the wavelength of excitation from the same fluorescence excitation spectra. The results obtained in this study of individual samples of chloroplasts frozen to -196 degrees C in the absence of divalent cations, namely, that phi T(II leads to I)varies from a minimum value of 0.10 when the Photosystem II reaction centers are all open to a maximum value of 0.25 when the centers are all closed and that alpha has a value of about 0.30 which is almost independent of wavelength for wavelength shorter than 675 nm (alpha increases rapidly toward unity at wavelength longer than 675 nm), agrees quite well with results obtained previously from comparative measurements of chloroplasts frozen to -196 degrees C in the presence and absence of divalent cations.