Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: Unique close-up of the dynamics of photosynthesis

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Caption: Photograph of the photosynthetic reaction taken with an 80-microsecond X-ray pulse. Photographer: Gergely Katona/University of Gothenburg.

Abstract:
Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have managed, with the help of an advanced X-ray flash, to photograph the movement of atoms during photosynthesis - an achievement that has been recognised by the journal Science.

By: Krister Svahn

Unique close-up of the dynamics of photosynthesis

Gothenburg, Sweden | Posted on May 11th, 2010

The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble is home to one of the world's most advanced particle accelerators, whose pulsing X-ray beams are used by researchers to photograph and study life's tiniest components: atoms, molecules and proteins.

3D image

Using the special X-ray camera, researchers can depict the position of atoms in a molecule and obtain a three-dimensional image of something that is smaller than a billionth of a metre. Researchers at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Gothenburg and at Chalmers University of Technology have now used this advanced technology to photograph the dynamics of life's most fundamental system: photosynthesis.

On the nano scale

The focus of the study was a protein which is central to the conversion of light to chemical energy during photosynthesis, and which process the Gothenburg researchers have been the first to (successfully photograph) (capture?). The X-ray image shows how the protein temporarily stores the light energy immediately before a chemical bond forms - a movement that takes place on a scale of less than a nanometre.

Future solar panels

The photograph is not only a fascinating snapshot of the very core of life, but could also be used in the solar panels of the future, where researchers hope to be able to imitate the sophisticated energy conversion of photosynthesis.

The photography is highlighted in an article in the next issue of Science.
Link to article: www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/328/5978/630

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Contacts:
Gergely Katona, Department of Chemistry, University of Gothenburg
Tel: +46 707 167586

Annemarie Beate Wöhri, Chalmers University of Technology/AstraZeneca
Tel: +46 704 411988

Richard Neutze, Department of Chemistry, University of Gothenburg
Tel: +46 738 536622

Krister Svahn
+46 31 786 49 12

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