Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of special pair bacteriochlorophylls in homodimeric reaction centers of heliobacteria and green sulfur bacteria

Heliobacteria and green sulfur bacteria have type I homodimeric reaction centers analogous to photosystem I. One remaining question regarding these homodimeric reaction centers is whether the structures and electron transfer reactions are truly symmetric or not. This question is relevant to the origin of the heterodimeric reaction centers, such as photosystem I and type II reaction centers. In this mini-review, Fourier transform infrared studies on the special pair bacteriochlorophylls, P798 in heliobacteria and P840 in green sulfur bacteria, are summarized. The data are reinterpreted in the light of the X-ray crystallographic structure of photosystem I and the sequence alignments of type I reaction center proteins, and discussed in terms of hydrogen bonding interactions and the symmetry of charge distribution over the dimer.