Prof. Chen Min from University of Sydney paid a visit to Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IHB) on June 18, 2015.

Prof. Chen Min from University of Sydney paid a visit to Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IHB) on June 18, 2015. During her visit, Prof. Chen was invited to give a lecture with the title of “Novel chlorophylls and new directions in photosynthesis research”. 

Prof. Chen’s research interests are primarily concerned with elucidating the molecular and biochemical mechanisms of the energy-storing reactions and photo-regulatory processes in photosynthetic organisms. In this lecture, she described her research progress on the photosynthesis mechanisms of phycobilisomes proteins and chlorophyll proteins, and the discovery process of chlorophyll f.  

Then she showed the red shift absorption spectrum characteristic of chlorophyll f. Researchers have earlier found that the distribution of the spatial structure of a community, photosynthetic organisms in sunlit surface tends to be rich of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b which absorb the visible light, whereas the acceptance of photosynthetic organisms in the lower visible light is limited. The Acaryochloris marine, a kind of cyanobacteria, rich in chlorophyll d was found in the next spatial structure, which can absorb infrared light.  

Prof. Chen cultured the organism collected in the field under the monochromatic light, and got the photosynthetic organisms which could be grown up under the red light. They found the chlorophyll f. Comparing to the chlorophyll d, chlorophyll f has stronger absorption spectrum redshifts. It broadens the absorption spectrum of photosynthetic organisms, thus effectively improve photosynthetic efficiency. Prof. Chen's discovery would help improve photosynthetic efficiency of other photosynthetic plants.