The biological water-oxidizing complex at the nano-bio interface.

Mohammad Mahdi Najafpour, Mohadeseh Zarei Ghobadi, Anthony W Larkum, Jian-Ren Shen, Suleyman I Allakhverdiev

Journal: Trends in plant science 2016;20(9):559-68

PMID: 26183174

Abstract

Photosynthesis is one of the most important processes on our planet, providing food and oxygen for the majority of living organisms on Earth. Over the past 30 years scientists have made great strides in understanding the central photosynthetic process of oxygenic photosynthesis, whereby water is used to provide the hydrogen and reducing equivalents vital to CO2 reduction and sugar formation. A recent crystal structure at 1.9-1.95Å has made possible an unparalleled map of the structure of photosystem II (PSII) and particularly the manganese-calcium (Mn-Ca) cluster, which is responsible for splitting water. Here we review how knowledge of the water-splitting site provides important criteria for the design of artificial Mn-based water-oxidizing catalysts, allowing the development of clean and sustainable solar energy technologies.

Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Address: Department of Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan 45137-66731, Iran; Center of Climate Change and Global Warming, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan 45137-66731, Iran. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan 45137-66731, Iran.; Plant Functional Biology and Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia.; Photosynthesis Research Center, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Faculty of Science, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, Japan.; Controlled Photobiosynthesis Laboratory, Institute of Plant Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Botanicheskaya Street 35, Moscow 127276, Russia; Institute of Basic Biological Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Moscow Region 142290, Russia; Department of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Biology, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1-12, Moscow 119991, Russia. Electronic address: [email protected].

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