New Breakthrough on Photosynthesis Revealed

A groundbreaking discovery in photosynthesis research may now shed light for scientists to have a clearer picture of how this miraculous process actually occurs. With the aid of quantum chemistry, scientists from Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion (MPI CEC) were able to provide unexpected insight into the properties of the oxygen evolving complex (OEC). The OEC is the catalyst in plants that splits water using sunlight in order to build carbohydrates, thus powering all lives on earth. Its precise structure, which was showing enigmatic spectroscopic behaviour, could now finally be solved with the aid of quantum chemistry.

In one of its most studied oxidation states, the OEC revealed two types of spectroscopic signals. These signals could be converted to one another by various treatments, but not in any structurally comprehensible way. Using theoretical spectroscopic techniques, the research team was able to show that the two signals are caused by two energetically similar and interconvertible structures of the complex. The core of the enzyme consists of a partial cubic structure made of manganese, calcium, and oxygen. Crucially, scientists at the MPI additionally proved using theoretical simulations that each of the two structures has a distinct spectroscopic signature and that these two signatures have a one-to-one correspondence with the experimentally observed spectroscopic signals.

The deep understanding of the OEC is fundamental in order to further elucidate nature's mysteries on the oxidation of water, a reaction that plays an essential role for energy research, such as in artificial photosynthesis.

For more information, visit http://phys.org/news/2012-12-mysterious-enzyme.html.