Effect of Photo-Oxidation on Energy Transfer in Light Harvesting Complex (LH2) from Rhodobacter Sphaeroides 601

We study the photo-oxidation of bacteriochlorophylls (BChls) in peripheral light harvesting complexes (LH2) from rhodobacter sphaeroides by using the steady absorption and the femtosecond pump--probe measurement, to realize the detailed dynamics of LH2 in the presence of photo-oxidation. The experimental results reveal that BChl-B850 radical cations may act as an additional channel to compete with the unoxidized BChl-B850 molecules for rapidly releasing the excitation energy, while the B800→B850 energy transfer rate is almost unaffected in the oxidation process.