Kinetics of Energy Flow in the Phycobilisome Core

Abstract

Light energy absorbed by the 576 bilin chromophores in the six rods of the phycobilisome of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis 6701 is funneled into a 1.5 x 10(6) dalton core. The 72 bilins of the core function as a single unit with respect to the rate-limiting processes for energy flow within these particles.