E-Book Overview
Progress in photosynthesis research is strongly dependent on instrumentation. It is therefore not surpr- ing that the impressive advances that have been made in recent decades are paralleled by equally impressive advances in sensitivity and sophistication of physical equipment and methods. This trend started already shortly after the war, in work by pioneers like Lou Duysens, the late Stacy French, Britton Chance, Horst Witt, George Feher and others, but it really gained momentum in the seventies and especially the eighties when pulsed lasers, pulsed EPR spectrometers and solid-state electronics acquired a more and more prominent role on the scene of scientific research. This book is different from most others because it focuses on the techniques rather than on the scientific questions involved. Its purpose is three-fold, and this purpose is reflected in each chapter: (i) to give the reader sufficient insight in the basic principles of a method to understand its applications (ii) to give information on the practical aspects of the method and (iii) to discuss some of the results obtained in photosynthesis research in order to provide insight in its potentalities. We hope that in this way the reader will obtain sufficient information for a critical assessment of the relevant literature, and, perhaps more important, will gain inspiration to tackle problems in his own field of research. The book is not intended to give a comprehensive review of photosynthesis, but nevertheless offers various views on the exciting developments that are going on.
E-Book Content
Biophysical Techniques in Photosynthesis Advances in Photosynthesis VOLUME 3 Series Editor: GOVINDJEE Department of Plant Biology University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, U.S.A. Consulting Editors: Jan AMESZ, Leiden, The Netherlands Eva-Mari ARO, Turku, Finland James BARBER, London, United Kingdom Robert E. BLANKENSHIP, Tempe, Arizona, U.S.A. Norio MURATA, Okazaki, Japan Donald R. ORT, Urbana, Illinois, U.S.A. Advances in Photosynthesis provides an up-to-date account of research on all aspects of photosynthesis, the most fundamental life process on earth. Photosynthesis is an area that requires, for its understanding, a multidiscipli nary (biochemical, biophysical, molecular biological, and physiological) approach. Its content spans from physics to agronomy, from femtosecond reactions to those that require an entire season, from photophysics of reac tion centers to the physiology of the whole plant, and from X-ray crystal lography to field measurements. The aim of this series of publications is to present to beginning researchers, advanced graduate students and even specialists a comprehensive current picture of the advances in the various aspects of photosynthesis research. Each volume focusses on a specific area in depth. The titles to be published in this series are listed on the backcover of this volume. Biophysical Techniques in Photosynthesis Edited by Jan Amesz and Arnold J. Hoff Department of Biophysics Huygens Laboratory, University of Leiden, 2300 RA Leiden The Netherlands KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS NEW YORK, BOSTON, DORDRECHT, LONDON, MOSCOW eBook ISBN: Print ISBN: 0-306-47960-5 0-7923-3642-9 ©2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow Print ©1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers Dordrecht All rights reserved No part of this eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without written consent from the Publisher Created in the United States of America Visit Kluwer Online at: and Kluwer's eBookstore at: http://kluweronline.com http://ebooks.kluweronline.com Contents Preface xi Part One: Optical Meth