Photosynthesis viewed in a flash

A new method of examining the inner workings of plants has shed light on how they harvest the Sun's energy.

Researchers have taken laser snapshots lasting just one ten-thousandth of a billionth of a second to examine the role of electrons in energy transfer.

The approach will be key in discovering how energy trickles through other systems, such as electronic devices, and could lead to better solar cells.

The work is published in the current issue of Physical Review Letters.

Ian Mercer of University College Dublin, Ireland, collaborating with researchers at Imperial College London, UK, examined the protein LH2, a well-known photosynthetic system.

The protein helps to pull electrons out of water which are then used to drive the reaction that makes sugars from carbon dioxide.

"More generally, we're trying to understand how nature can transport energy across large molecules, and photosynthesis is a good example of where nature does it remarkably efficiently," Dr Mercer told BBC News.

Significant research has been performed to assess the role of electrons in that process with a view to increasing the performance of solar cells, most of which currently operate at an efficiency around just 10%.

continued: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7873294.stm