Differences in the Active Site of Water Oxidation among Photosynthetic Organisms

The site of biological water oxidation is highly conserved across photosynthetic organisms, but differences of unidentified structural and electronic origin exist between taxonomically discrete clades, revealed by distinct spectroscopic signatures of the oxygen-evolving Mn4CaO5 cluster and variations in active-site accessibility. Comparison of atomistic models of a native cyanobacterial form (Thermosynechococcus vulcanus) and a chimeric...