Cupellini 2023 Photosynth Res

Cupellini L, Liguori N (2023) Special issue on quantum and classical computational methods in photosynthesis: from the atom to the mesoscale. Photosynth Res 156:1–2. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-023-01011-3

» https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11120-023-01011-3

Cupellini L, Liguori N (2023) Photosynth Res

Abstract: Natural photosynthesis is the molecular process that allows plants, algae and certain bacteria to convert solar energy into chemical energy. The photosynthetic machinery relies on a hierarchy of mechanisms that involve pigments, proteins, enzymes, lipids, and cofactors, which operate over a broad spectrum of space and time scales. The exceptional development in both hardware and algorithms has led to increasingly accurate computational techniques, able to provide a molecular description of the processes triggered by the absorption of photons in the photosynthetic membrane. Collaboration and discussions between the computational and experimental research communities in photosynthesis are essential for the development of more accurate interdisciplinary approaches and their application to the study of photosynthetic processes, helping navigate the physical and biological basis of photosynthesis more effectively. To promote these efforts, in the fall of 2021 we organized a meeting to discuss the latest developments in computational methods for studying photosynthesis, which was titled "Computational Methods in Photosynthesis: From Atoms to the Mesoscale, from Theory to Experiment, ComPhot 2021" (https://comphot2021.wordpress.com/). The meeting brought together more than 200 computational and experimental scientists from within and outside the photosynthesis research community and thereby allowed computational and theoretical biophysicists to reach out to the experimental community, explaining their methods and their latest results in a didactic and accessible way. With the same aim, this Special Issue collects an exciting series of original research articles and reviews dedicated to a variety of computational approaches that capture different aspects of photosynthesis with a resolution ranging from single atoms up to the mesoscale.

• Bioblast editor: Gnaiger E

Labels:

Quantum biology, PhotoBiology