Photosynthesis: Molecular Approaches to Solar Energy Conversion

In the modern world, to meet increasing energy demands we need to develop new technologies allowing us to use eco-friendly carbon-neutral energy sources. Solar energy as the most promising renewable source could be the way to solve that problem, but it is variable depending on day time and season. From this side, the understanding of photosynthesis process could be of significant help for us to develop effective strategies of solar energy capturing, conversion, and storage. Plants, algae, and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis, annually producing around 100 billion tons of dry biomass. Presently, the detailed studies of photosynthetic system structure make functional investigations of the photosynthetic process available, allowing scientists to construct artificial systems for solar energy transduction. This book summarizes exciting achievements in understanding of photosynthetic structures and mechanisms of this process made by world leaders in photosynthesis field, and contains information about modern ideas in development of revolutionary new technologies of energy conversion. Organized according to the natural sequence of events occurring during photosynthesis, the book includes information of both photosynthetic structures and mechanisms and its applications in bioenergetics issues.

In the modern world, to meet increasing energy demands we need to develop new technologies allowing us to use eco-friendly carbon-neutral energy sources. Solar energy as the most promising renewable source could be the way to solve that problem, but it is variable depending on day time and season. From this side, the understanding of photosynthesis process could be of significant help for us to develop effective strategies of solar energy capturing, conversion, and storage. Plants, algae, and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis, annually producing around 100 billion tons of dry biomass. Presently, the detailed studies of photosynthetic system structure make functional investigations of the photosynthetic process available, allowing scientists to construct artificial systems for solar energy transduction. This book summarizes exciting achievements in understanding of photosynthetic structures and mechanisms of this process made by world leaders in photosynthesis field, and contains information about modern ideas in development of revolutionary new technologies of energy conversion. Organized according to the natural sequence of events occurring during photosynthesis, the book includes information of both photosynthetic structures and mechanisms and its applications in bioenergetics issues.

Part 1. Natural and Artificial Water Oxidation.- 1. Structure, Electron Transfer Chain of Photosystem II and the Mechanism of Water-splitting (Jian-Ren Shen, Yoshiki Nakajima, Fusamichi Akita, Michihiro Suga).- 2. Mechanism of Water Oxidation in Photosynthesis Elucidated by Interplay between Experiment and Theory (Kizashi Yamaguchi, Shusuke Yamanaka, Hiroshi Isobe, Mitsuo Shoji, Takashi Kawakami, Koichi Miyagawa).- 3. On the Nature of the Functional S-states in the Oxygen Evolving Centre of Photosystem II: What Computational Chemistry Reveals about the Water Splitting Mechanism (Rob Stranger, Simon Petrie, Richard Terrett and Ron J. Pace).- 4. "Toward Molecular Mechanisms of Solar Water Splitting in Semi-Conductor/Manganese Materials and Photosystem II (Harvey J. M. Hou).- Part 2. Light-harvesting Systems.- 5. Chlorophyll Species and Their Functions in the Photosynthetic Energy Conversion (Tatsuya Tomo and Suleyman I. Allakhverdiev).- 6."Structure, Organization and Function of Light-harvesting Complexes Associated with Photosystem II (Wenda Wang and Jian-Ren Shen).- 7. Structure, Function, and Evolution of Photosystem I-light harvesting antenna I complexes (Xiaochun Qin).- 8. Light Harvesting Modulation in Photosynthetic Organisms (Miguel A. Hernández-Prieto and Min Chen).- 9. Red-shifted and Red Chlorophylls in Photosystems: Entropy as a Driving Force for Uphill Energy Transfer? (Thomas Friedrich and Franz-Josef Schmitt).- 10. Modification of Energy Distribution between Photosystems I and II by Spillover Revealed by Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy (Makio Yokono, Yoshifumi Ueno, and Seiji Akimoto).- 11. Perception of State Transitions in Photosynthetic Organisms (Rajagopal Subramanyam and Sai Kiran Madireddi).- Part 3. Photo-induced Charge Separation and Primary Electron Transfer Processes.- 12. Molecular Mechanism of Asymmetric Electron Transfer on the Electron   Donor Side of Photosystem II (Takumi Noguchi).- Part 4. Membrane Dynamics and Regulation of Excitation Energy/Electron Transfer Processes.- 13. Structure-Function Relationships in Chloroplasts: EPR Study of Temperature-Dependent Regulation of Photosynthesis, an Overview (Alexander N. Tikhonov).- 14. Plasticity of Photosystem II: Fine-tuning of the Structure and Function of Light-Harvesting Complex II and the Reaction Center (Petar H. Lambrev, Parveen Akhtar and Győző Garab).- 15. Role of Lipids and Fatty Acids in the Maintenance of Photosynthesis and the Assembly of Photosynthetic Complexes during Photosystem II Turnover (Miguel Alfonso, María A. Luján, and Rafael Picorel).- 16. Evolution and Function of the Extrinsic Subunits of Photosystem II (Kenatro Ifuku and Ryo Nagao).- 17. Effect of Trehalose on the Functional Properties of Photosystem II (Denis V. Yanykin, Andrey A. Khorobrykh, Alexey Yu. Semenov, and Mahir D. Mamedov).- 18. Dynamic Models of the Processes in Thylakoid Membranes (Galina Riznichenko and Andrew Rubin).- 19. Photoacoustics Reveals Specific Thermodynamic Information in Photosynthesis (Harvey J.M. Hou and David Mauzerall).- 20. Plasticity of the Photosynthetic Energy Conversion and Accumulation of Metabolites in Plants in Response to Light Quality (Oksana Sytar, Marek Zivcak, Peyman Mohammadzadeh Toutounchi, Marian Brestic, and Suleyman I. Allakhverdiev).- Part 5. Photosynthetic Hydrogen Production.- 21. Feasibility of Sustainable Photosynthetic Hydrogen Production (Vinzenz Bayro-Kaiser and Nathan Nelson).- 22. Recent Advances in Microalgal Hydrogen Production (Vera Grechanik, and Anatoly Tsygankov).