Research Topics
| Min ChenSummaryAffiliation: University of Sydney Location: Sydney, Australia URL: http://sydney.edu.au/science/biology/about_us/academic_staff/chen_min/ Summary: Prof Chens research interests are primarily concerned with elucidating the molecular and biochemical mechanisms of the energy-storing reactions and photo-regulatory processes in photosynthetic organisms, especially the function of red-shifted chlorophylls in oxygenic photosynthetic organisms (cyanobacteria and algae). Prof Chens research “platform” lies in the broad field of biochemistry of photosynthesis, including biochemical, biophysical and molecular biological studies on isolated pigments and protein-pigment complexes. The experimental techniques that we use include comparison of genomic sequence information, gene expression analysis/meta-transcription analysis, proteomic analysis and spectroscopic analysis. Prof Chens current projects also include elements of microbial ecology, microbiology/marine microbiology (mainly phototrophic organisms, cyanobacteria and algae), chromatic responses and photo-regulation. Publications: Expanding the solar spectrum used by photosynthesis, 2011, Trends in Plant Science PMID: Endolithic chlorophyll d containing phototrophs, 2011, ISME J 5：1072-1076 PMID: A red-shifted chlorophyll, 2010, Science 329:1318-1319 PMID: 18O-labelling of chlorophyll d in acaryochloris marina reveal chlorophyll a and molecular oxygen are precursors, 2010, J. Bio. Chem. 285: 28450-28456 PMID: Niche adaptation in a new chlorophyll d-containing cyanobacterium from the genus Acaryochloris, 2010, ISME J 4: 1456-1469 PMID: The molecular structure of the IsiA-Photosystem I supercomplex, modelled from high-resolution, crystal structures of Photosystem I and the CP43 protein, 2010, Biochim. Biophys Acta 1797:457-465 PMID: Characterization of Chl d-binding light-harvesting protein of Acaryochloris in Synechocystis sp. PCC6803, 2010, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1797:204-211 PMID: Supramolecular organization of phycobiliproteins in the chlorophyll d-containing cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina, 2009, FEBS Lett. 583:2535-2539 PMID: Chromatic photoacclimation extends utilisable photosynthetically active radiation in the chlorophyll d-containing cyanobacterium, Acaryochloris marina, 2009 Photosynth. Res. 101:69-75 PMID: Biogeography of photosynthetic light-harvesting genes in marine phytoplankton, 2009, PLoS ONE 4:e4601 PMID: Tracking molecular evolution of photosynthesis by characterisation of atomic contents of the photosynthetic units, 2008, Photosyn. Res 97:255-261 PMID: The complete genome of Heliobacterium modesticaldum, a Gram-positive phototroph with the simplest photosynthetic apparatus, 2008, J. Bacteriol. 190:4687-4696 PMID: Genome expansion in the chlorophyll d-producing cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina, 2008, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105:2005-2010 PMID: Nomenclature for membrane-bound light-harvesting complexes of cyanobacteria, 2008, Photosyn. Res. 95:147-154 PMID: An electron paramagnetic resonance investigation of the electron transfer reactions in the chlorophyll d containing photosystem I of Acaryochloris marina, 2007,FEBS Lett. 581:1567–1571 PMID: Chlorophylls, ligands and assembly of light-harvesting complexes in chloroplasts, 2007, Photosyn. Res. 94:387-400 PMID: Chromatic photoacclimation, photosynthetic electron transport and oxygen evolution in the Chlorophyll d-containing oxyphotobacterium Acaryochloris marina, 2007, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1767:127–135 PMID: Theoretical study on the thermodynamic properties of chlorophyll d-peptides coordinating ligand, 2007, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1767:603–609 PMID: Evolution of the inner light-harvesting antenna protein family of cyanobacteria, algae and plants, 2007, J. Mol. Evol. 64:321–331 PMID: A niche for cyanobacteria containing chlorophyll d, 2005, Nature 433: 820 PMID: Influence of structure on binding of chlorophylls to peptide ligands, 2005, J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 127:2052–2053 PMID: Unique origin and lateral transfer of prokaryotic chlorophyll-b and chlorophyll d light-harvesting systems, 2005, Molec. Biol. Evol. 22:21–28 PMID: Spectroscopic studies of photosystem II in chlorophyll d-containing Acaryochloris marina, 2005, Biochem. 44:11178–11187 PMID: Iron deficiency induces a chlorophyll d-binding Pcb antenna system around Photosystem I in Acaryochloris marina, 2005, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1708:367–374 PMID: Structure of a large photosystem II supercomplex from Acaryochloris marina, 2005, FEBS Lett. 579:1306–1310 PMID: Excitation energy transfer from phycobiliprotein to chlorophyll d in intact cells of Acaryochloris marina studied by time- and wavelength resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, 2005, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci. 4:1016–1022 PMID: The nature of the photosystem II reaction centre in the chlorophyll d-containing prokaryote, Acaryochloris marina, 2005, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci. 4:1060–1064 PMID: Photosynthetic apparatus of antenna-reaction centres supercomplexes in oxyphotobacteria: insight through significance of Pcb/IsiA Proteins, 2005, Photosyn. Res. 86:165-173 PMID: Raman properties of chlorophyll d, the major pigment of Acaryochloris marina: studies using both Raman spectroscopy and density functional theory, 2004, Spectrochim. Acta A Mol. Biomol. Spectrosc. 60:527–534 PMID: Structure of a photosystem II supercomplex isolated from prochloron didenou retaining its chlorophyll a/b light harvesting system, 2003, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100:9050–9054 PMID: Examination of the photophysical process of chlorophyll d, the major pigment of Acaryochloris marina, 2003, Photochem. Photobiol. 77:628–637 Excitation dynamics in the core antenna in the photosystem I reaction center of the chlorophyll d-containing photosynthetic prokaryote Acaryochloris marina, 2003, J. Phys. Chem. B 107:1452–1457 Chlorophyll d as the major photopigment in Acaryochloris marina 2002, Journal of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines 6:763–773 Raman spectroscopy of chlorophyll d from Acaryochloris marina, 2002, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1556:89–91. The major light-harvesting pigment proteins in Acaryochloris marina, 2002, FEBS Lett. 514:149–152 Publications
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Detail Information
Publications
Spectroscopic studies of photosystem II in chlorophyll d-containing Acaryochloris marinaM Reza Razeghifard
Photobioenergetics, Research School of Biological Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
Biochemistry 44:11178-87. 2005..Nevertheless, the water oxidation mechanism in A. marina is kinetically unaltered...- An electron paramagnetic resonance investigation of the electron transfer reactions in the chlorophyll d containing photosystem I of Acaryochloris marinaStefano Santabarbara
Department of Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
FEBS Lett 581:1567-71. 2007..The distance between P(740)(+) and Q(-) was estimated within point-dipole approximation as 25.23+/-0.05A, by the analysis of the electron spin echo envelope modulation... 
Chlorophylls, ligands and assembly of light-harvesting complexes in chloroplastsJ Kenneth Hoober
School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287 4501, USA
Photosynth Res 94:387-400. 2007..The coordination bonds are enhanced by H-bonds between the protein and the 7-formyl group. These additional strong interactions with Chl b are necessary to achieve assembly of stable LHCs...- Nomenclature for membrane-bound light-harvesting complexes of cyanobacteriaMin Chen
School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
Photosynth Res 95:147-54. 2008..The CBP complexes are a member of a larger family that includes the chlorophyll a-binding proteins CP43 and CP47 that function as core antennas of photosystem II... - Niche adaptation and genome expansion in the chlorophyll d-producing cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marinaWesley D Swingley
Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, N19W8, Sapporo 060 0819, Japan
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105:2005-10. 2008..These features clearly show that the genus Acaryochloris is a fitting candidate for understanding genome expansion, gene acquisition, ecological adaptation, and photosystem modification in the cyanobacteria... - The genome of Heliobacterium modesticaldum, a phototrophic representative of the Firmicutes containing the simplest photosynthetic apparatusW Matthew Sattley
Department of Biology, Washington University, Campus Box 1137, St Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
J Bacteriol 190:4687-96. 2008..In contrast to the nutritional flexibility of many anoxygenic phototrophs, the complete genome sequence of H. modesticaldum reveals an organism with a notable degree of metabolic specialization and genomic reduction... 
Tracking the molecular evolution of photosynthesis through characterization of atomic contents of the photosynthetic unitsMin Chen
School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
Photosynth Res 97:255-61. 2008..In this article, we also discuss the possible influences of micro-environment and the available nutrients on the protein structure and their atomic distribution...- Biogeography of photosynthetic light-harvesting genes in marine phytoplanktonThomas S Bibby
School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, United Kingdom
PLoS ONE 4:e4601. 2009.... - Chromatic photoacclimation extends utilisable photosynthetically active radiation in the chlorophyll d-containing cyanobacterium, Acaryochloris marinaZane Duxbury
School of Biological Sciences A08, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
Photosynth Res 101:69-75. 2009..Photoacclimation and the Q (y) peak of Chl d could be understood in terms of the ecological niche of Acaryochloris, i.e. habitats enriched in near infrared radiation... - Supramolecular organization of phycobiliproteins in the chlorophyll d-containing cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marinaMin Chen
School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
FEBS Lett 583:2535-9. 2009..Based on this finding and the known photosystem's structure in Acaryochloris, we discuss possible membrane arrangements of photosynthetic membrane complexes in this species... - Incorporation of the chlorophyll d-binding light-harvesting protein from Acaryochloris marina and its localization within the photosynthetic apparatus of Synechocystis sp. PCC6803Daping Yang
Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, PR China
Biochim Biophys Acta 1797:204-11. 2010..These results suggest that there are competitive interactions between the external antenna system of phycobiliproteins and the integral antenna system of chlorophyll-bound protein complexes... - The molecular structure of the IsiA-Photosystem I supercomplex, modelled from high-resolution, crystal structures of Photosystem I and the CP43 proteinYinan Zhang
School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Biochim Biophys Acta 1797:457-65. 2010..In conclusion, our model allows us to explain how the IsiA-PSI supercomplex may act as an efficient light-harvesting structure under low-light conditions and as an efficient dissipater of excess energy under high-light conditions... - A new chlorophyll d-containing cyanobacterium: evidence for niche adaptation in the genus AcaryochlorisRemus Mohr
Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schaenzlestrasse 1, Freiburg, Germany
ISME J 4:1456-69. 2010.... - 18O labeling of chlorophyll d in Acaryochloris marina reveals that chlorophyll a and molecular oxygen are precursorsMartin Schliep
Schools of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
J Biol Chem 285:28450-6. 2010..This clearly indicated that the oxygen atom in the C3(1)-formyl group of Chl d is derived from dioxygen via an oxygenase-type reaction mechanism... - A red-shifted chlorophyllMin Chen
School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Science 329:1318-9. 2010..This finding suggests that oxygenic photosynthesis can be extended further into the infrared region and may open associated bioenergy applications... - Expanding the solar spectrum used by photosynthesisMin Chen
School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Trends Plant Sci 16:427-31. 2011..Recently, an even more red-shifted chlorophyll termed chlorophyll f has been reported. Here, we discuss using modified chlorophylls to extend the spectral region of light that drives photosynthetic organisms... - Theoretical study on the thermodynamic properties of chlorophyll d-peptides coordinating ligandMin Chen
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Biochim Biophys Acta 1767:603-9. 2007..Compared with other studies involving theoretical correlation and our prior experiments, this study suggests that the chlorophyll a-bound proteins will bind chlorophyll d without difficulty when chlorophyll d is available... - Evolution of the inner light-harvesting antenna protein family of cyanobacteria, algae, and plantsYinan Zhang
School of Biological Sciences, Heydon Laurence Building A08, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
J Mol Evol 64:321-31. 2007..Only much later in evolution did the CP43 lineage give rise to the CP43' proteins (IsiA and Pcb) of cyanobacteria... - Raman spectroscopy of chlorophyll d from Acaryochloris marinaZheng Li Cai
School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Sydney, Australia
Biochim Biophys Acta 1556:89-91. 2002..Intense Raman peaks in the range of 1000-1800 cm(-1) are reported and homologous comparison with corresponding Raman shifts of Chl a, Chl b and BChl a are presented... - Structure of a photosystem II supercomplex isolated from Prochloron didemni retaining its chlorophyll a/b light-harvesting systemThomas S Bibby
Wolfson Laboratories, Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 100:9050-4. 2003..Modeling using the x-ray structure of cyanobacterial PSII suggests that energy transfer to the PSII reaction center is via the Chls bound to the CP47 and CP43 proteins... - Raman properties of chlorophyll d, the major pigment of Acaryochloris marina: studies using both Raman spectroscopy and density functional theoryMin Chen
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc 60:527-34. 2004..Density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been used to make assignments on the observed Raman spectrum and the DFT results have been found to be in good agreement with the experimental results... - Unique origin and lateral transfer of prokaryotic chlorophyll-b and chlorophyll-d light-harvesting systemsMin Chen
School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia
Mol Biol Evol 22:21-8. 2005..This may indicate widespread lateral transfer of the Pcb protein-based light-harvesting system... - Structure of a large photosystem II supercomplex from Acaryochloris marinaMin Chen
School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
FEBS Lett 579:1306-10. 2005..Thus each PSII-RC monomer has four Pcb subunits acting as a light harvesting system which increases the absorption cross section of the PSII-RC core by almost 200%... - Influence of structure on binding of chlorophylls to peptide ligandsMin Chen
School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
J Am Chem Soc 127:2052-3. 2005.... - Ecology: a niche for cyanobacteria containing chlorophyll dMichael Kuhl
Marine Biological Laboratory, Institute of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 3000 Helsingør, Denmark
Nature 433:820. 2005..This discovery clarifies how these cyanobacteria are able to thrive as free-living organisms in their natural habitat... - Iron deficiency induces a chlorophyll d-binding Pcb antenna system around Photosystem I in Acaryochloris marinaMin Chen
School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Biochim Biophys Acta 1708:367-74. 2005.... - Photosynthetic apparatus of antenna-reaction centres supercomplexes in oxyphotobacteria: insight through significance of Pcb/IsiA proteinsMin Chen
School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia usyd edu au
Photosynth Res 86:165-73. 2005..We summarise how variations in the organisation of these complexes have enabled oxyphotobacteria to exploit different ecological niches and discuss the evolutionary relationships of the IsiA/Pcb family of pigment-binding proteins... - Excitation energy transfer from phycobiliprotein to chlorophyll d in intact cells of Acaryochloris marina studied by time- and wavelength-resolved fluorescence spectroscopyZdeněk Petrášek
Institute of Optics, Technical University Berlin, Germany
Photochem Photobiol Sci 4:1016-22. 2005..Thus, this long-lived fluorescence component cannot be used as an indicator that the primary PS II donor of Acaryochloris marina contains Chl a... - The nature of the photosystem II reaction centre in the chlorophyll d-containing prokaryote, Acaryochloris marinaMin Chen
School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Photochem Photobiol Sci 4:1060-4. 2005..We conclude that PS II, in A. marina, utilizes Chl d and not Chl a as primary electron donor and that the primary electron acceptor is one of two molecules of pheophytin a... - Chromatic photoacclimation, photosynthetic electron transport and oxygen evolution in the chlorophyll d-containing oxyphotobacterium Acaryochloris marinaRosalyn S Gloag
School of Biological Sciences A 08, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Biochim Biophys Acta 1767:127-35. 2007..The gross photosynthesis/respiration ratio (P(g)/R) of Acaryochloris under optimum conditions was about 4.02+/-1.69. The implications of our findings will be discussed in relation to how photosynthesis is regulated in Acaryochloris... - Endolithic chlorophyll d-containing phototrophsLars Behrendt
Marine Biological Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Helsingør, Denmark
ISME J 5:1072-6. 2011..This finding suggests an important role of Chl d-containing cyanobacteria in a range of hitherto unexplored endolithic habitats, where NIR light-driven oxygenic photosynthesis may be significant... - The major light-harvesting pigment protein of Acaryochloris marinaMin Chen
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
FEBS Lett 514:149-52. 2002..34 kDa and to contain Chl d and Chl a, indicating that the Acaryochloris lhc is similar to that of prochlorophytes. The Chl a level varied with the culture conditions, which is consistent with previous findings... - A cyanobacterium that contains chlorophyll f--a red-absorbing photopigmentMin Chen
School of Biological Sciences A08, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
FEBS Lett 586:3249-54. 2012..Phycobiliproteins were induced under white light growth conditions. A fluorescence emission peak of 748 nm was identified as due to Chl f. The results suggest that Chl f is a red-light inducible chlorophyll...