Oxygen-evolving complex water oxidation

The invention of aerobic photosynthesis, the light-driven oxidation of water to oxygen, stands as one of the pivotal evolutionary innovations in the history of life on Earth. The process is carried out only at the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) of PSII in plants and algae, as well as in cyanobacteria. Despite the biological uniqueness of water oxidation to 02, several of the core proteins of PSII have homologues in the so-called type I and type II anaerobic photosynthetic reaction... 

Liang WC, Roelofs TA, Cinco RM, et al. Structural change of the Mn cluster during the S2 —> S3 state transition of the oxygen-evolving complex of photosystem II. Does it reflect the onset of water/substrate oxidation Determination by Mn X-ray absorption spectroscopy. J Am Chem Soc. 2000 122(14) 3 399 412. 

Shutilova, N. I. (2000), Mechanism of photosynthetic oxidation of water in a dimeric oxygen-evolving complex of photosystem II of chloroplasts, Biofizika 45, 51-57. 

PSII = Photosystem II WOC = Water-oxidizing complex OEC = Oxygen-evolving complex (B)RC = (Bacterial) Reaction Center Chi = Chlorophyll Bchl = Bacteriochloro-phyll XRD = X-ray diffraction EPR = Electron paramagnetic resonance EXAFS = Extended X-ray absorption fine stmctnre ENDOR = Electron-nuclear double resonance ESEEM = Electron spin echo envelope modulation (Tyr = Yz) = DlTyrl61 ATP = Adenosine Triphosphate KIE = Kinetic isotope effect UV = Ultraviolet (FT-)IR = (Fourier Transform) InfraRed. 

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