• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 1999

Chlorophasts are a central structural feature of stomatal guard cells. Guard cell chloroplasts have both photosystems I and II (PS I and II), carry out O2 evoluation , cyclic and noncyclic photophosporylation, and possess the Calvin-Benson cycle enzymes involved in CO2 fixation. These imply that guard cell chloroplasts have a normal photosynthetic carbon reduction pathway just like their mesophyll counterparts, indicating similar fuctional organization of thylakoid membranes in both types of mesophyll and guard cell chloroplasts. It has been, however, found that guard cell chloroplasts have distinctive and comparative properties in their photosynthetic performance. In this article, I review the intrinsic features on the light reaction of and carbon reduction by guard cell chloroplasts.

• Ceramist
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.233-248
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• 2018

Photosynthesis of plant, algae, and certain types of bacteria can convert solar energy to electrons at high efficiency. There have been many research investigations to utilize this mechanism to develop photosynthetic bio-solar energy systems. In this article, the fundamentals of photosynthetic energy conversion mechanism are explained and various approaches are introduced and discussed.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.97-104
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• 1993

The lipid composition of thylakoid membranes was compared between mesophyll and bundle sheath chloroplasts of maize. According to mild-denaturing gel electrophoresis, mesophyll thylakoids contained both PS I complex and PS II light-harvesting chlorophyll-protein complex(LHCP), while those of bundle sheath cells contained mainly PS I complex. The amount of lipids per mg chlorophyll was higher in bundle sheath thylakoids than in mesophyll. The major polar lipid classes were monogalactosyldiacylglycerol(MGDG), digalactosyldiacylglycreol, sulfolipid and phosphatidylglycerol (PG) in both tissues. Linolenic acid(18 : 3), linoleic acid(18 : 2) and palmitic acid(16 : 0) were the main fatty acyl components, with higher ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids in bundle sheath thylakoids, suggesting these membranes are more fluid. The most striking difference in lipid composition between the two kinds of tissues was the practical absence of trans- 3-hexadecenoic acid(16 : 1t) in PG of bundle sheath thylakoids. This fatty acid is known to be involved in the association of LHCP as oligomeric form. More than 80% of MGDG molecular species was 18 : 3, 18 : 3, demonstrating that maize is a typical 18 : 3 plant. Therefore, the possibility of the functional relationships between the lamella structure, and thus the distribution of photosystems, and MGDG molecular species was excluded.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.301-307
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• 1996

The disassembly of Chl-protein complexes during dark-induced senescence (DIS) was investigated using detached third and fourthleaves of 21$\pm$1 day-old Arabidopsis thaliana. Although Chl content decreased linearly after 1 d, a significant decrease of photochemical effeciency (Fv/Fm) was observed after 2 d. In experiments using native green gel electrophoresis of Chl-protein complexes combined with additional two-dimensional SDS-PAGE analysis, we could observe the degradation of both photosystems after 2 d. Although light-harvesting complex(LHC) for PSI (LHCI) was degraded first in PSI complex, small PSII apoproteins including CP47/CP43 and D1/D2 apoproteins were degraded first in PSII complexes. LHC for PSII (LHCII) trimers were stable until 4 d. The level of LHCII monomers was increased until 3 and decreased thereafter, resulting in the increase of free pigments. These results suggest that the disassembly process of PSI is different from that of PSII.

• Rapid Communication in Photoscience
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.18-23
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• 2013

The photosystem II (PSII) light harvesting complex (LHC) consists of a variety of pigment protein complexes which are involved in structural organization and regulation of photosynthetic unit. These LHC proteins encoded by a group of Lhcb genes are essential for the structural integrity of PSII supercomplex, the channeling the excitation energy to the reaction center of PSII and its redistribution to photosystem I by state transitions. Numerous studies with the help of recent technological advancements have enabled a significant progress in our understanding on the structure of PSII-LHCII supercomplexes and their mobilization under various light conditions. Here, we present a mini-review on the latest concepts and models depicting the structure of PSII-LHCII supercomplexes and the role of Lhcb proteins in their supra-molecular organization. Also we will review on the current understandings and remaining problems involved in the mobilization of the supercomplexes during state transitions and during high light illumination for controlling light energy distribution between the two photosystems.

• Rapid Communication in Photoscience
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.21-24
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• 2012

Influence of gamma rays on the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 cells was investigated in terms of a bidirectional hydrogenase, which is encoded by hoxEFUYH genes and responsible for biohydrogen production. Irradiated cells revealed a substantial change in stoichiometry of photosystems at one day after gamma irradiation at different doses. However, as evaluated by the maximal rate of photosynthetic oxygen evolution, maximal photochemical efficiency of photosystem II, and chlorophyll content, net photosynthesis or photosynthetic capacity was not significantly different between the control and irradiated cells. Instead, transcription of hoxE, hoxH, or lexA, which encodes a subunit of bidirectional hydrogenase or the only transcriptional activator, LexA, for hox genes, was commonly enhanced in the irradiated cells. This transcriptional enhancement was more conspicuously observed immediately after gamma irradiation. In contrast, hydrogenase activities were found to somewhat lower in the irradiated cells. Therefore, we propose that transcription of hox genes should be enhanced by gamma irradiation in a LexA-mediated and possibly photosynthesis-independent manner and that this enhancement might not induce a subsequent increase in hydrogenase activities, probably due to the presence of post-transcriptional and/or post-translational regulatory mechanisms.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.90 no.4
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• pp.476-487
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• 2001

In this study, three tree species (Populus euramericana, Kalopanax pictus and Quercus serrata) exhibiting different levels of shade tolerance were employed to investigate photosynthetic responses to the lower light condition on forest floors. Chlorophyll contents, spectral properties and photosynthetic characteristics were examined by using the tree species grown under high light intensity (PPFD $920{\mu}mol\;m^{-2}s^{-1}$) or low light intensity (PPFD $80{\mu}mol\;m^{-2}s^{-1}$). Plants grown under the low light intensity tended to have reduced leaf area, chlorophyll content per unit leaf area, light absorption and respiration in the shade intolerant tree species of P. euramericana. However, the shade tolerant species K. pictus and Q. serrata showed increased leaf area, chlorophyll content and net apparent quantum yield. Therefore, light absorption and light utilization efficiency were improved under the low light intensity. Also shade tolerant species maintained activities of photosystems and $CO_2$ fixation systems with little changes in low light intensity condition.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.87-87
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• 2010

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems are promising methods of producing H2 gas using solar energy in an aqueous solution. The photoelectrochemical properties of numerous metal oxides have been studied. Among them, the PEC systems based on TiO2 have been extensively studied. However, the drawback of a PEC system with TiO2 is that only ultraviolet (UV) light can be absorbed because of its large band gap (3.2 - 3.4 eV). Two approaches have been introduced in order to use PEC cells in the visible light region. The first method includes doping impurities, such as nitrogen, into TiO2, and this technique has been extensively studied in an attempt to narrow the band gap. In comparison, research on the second method, which includes visible light water splitting in molecular photosystems, has been slow. Mallouk et al. recently developed electrochemical water-splitting cells using the Ru(II) complex as the visible light photosensitizer. the dye-sensitized PEC cell consisted of a dye-sensitized TiO2 layer, a Pt counter electrode, and an aqueous solution between them. Under a visible light (< 3 eV) illumination, only the dye molecule absorbed the light and became excited because TiO2 had the wide band gap. The light absorption of the dye was followed by the transfer of an electron from the excited state (S*) of the dye to the conduction band (CB) of TiO2 and its subsequent transfer to the transparent conducting oxide (TCO). The electrons moved through the wire to the Pt, where the water reduction (or H2 evolution) occurred. The oxidized dye molecules caused the water oxidation because their HOMO level was below the H2O/O2 level. Organic dyes have been developed as metal-free alternatives to the Ru(II) complexes because of their tunable optical and electronic properties and low-cost manufacturing. Recently, organic dye molecules containing multi-branched, multi-anchoring groups have received a great deal of interest. In this work, tri-branched tri-anchoring organic dyes (Dye 2) were designed and applied to visible light water-splitting cells based on dye-sensitized TiO2 electrodes. Dye 2 had a molecular structure containing one donor (D) and three acceptor (A) groups, and each ended with an anchoring functionality. In comparison, mono-anchoring dyes (Dye 1) were also synthesized. The PEC response of the Dye 2-sensitized TiO2 film was much better than the Dye 1-sensitized or unsensitized TiO2 films.