Tros, MartijnBersanini, LucaShen, GaozhongHo, Ming-Yangvan Stokkum, Ivo H. M.Bryant, Donald A.Croce, Roberta2021-02-172021-02-172020-08Martijn Tros, Luca Bersanini, Gaozhong Shen, Ming-Yang Ho, Ivo H.M. van Stokkum, Donald A. Bryant, Roberta Croce, Harvesting far-red light: Functional integration of chlorophyll f into Photosystem I complexes of Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics, Volume 1861, Issue 8, 2020, 148206, doi: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2020.148206.0005-2728https://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/16122The heterologous expression of the far-red absorbing chlorophyll (Chl) f in organisms that do not synthesize this pigment has been suggested as a viable solution to expand the solar spectrum that drives oxygenic photosynthesis. In this study, we investigate the functional binding of Chl f to the Photosystem I (PSI) of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus 7002, which has been engineered to express the Chl f synthase gene. By optimizing growth light conditions, one-to-four Chl f pigments were found in the complexes. By using a range of spectroscopic techniques, isolated PSI trimeric complexes were investigated to determine how the insertion of Chl f affects excitation energy transfer and trapping efficiency. The results show that the Chls f are functionally connected to the reaction center of the PSI complex and their presence does not change the overall pigment organization of the complex. Chl f substitutes Chl a (but not the Chl a red forms) while maintaining efficient energy transfer within the PSI complex. At the same time, the introduction of Chl f extends the photosynthetically active radiation of the new hybrid PSI complexes up to 750 nm, which is advantageous in far-red light enriched environments. These conclusions provide insights to engineer the photosynthetic machinery of crops to include Chl f and therefore increase the light-harvesting capability of photosynthesis.en-US© This published version is made available under the CC-BY 4.0 licensehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Article