ABSTRACT
Systems biophysics can describe the input to a photosynthetic system and thus contribute a building block to the systems biology of photosynthesis. Systems biophysics mathematically describes the processes during the light reactions of photosynthesis: light harvesting, energy transfer, photochemical quenching (charge separation), nonphotochemical quenching, and state transitions. The aim of systems biophysics is to develop mathematical models that describe the functioning of complex photosynthetic systems. Such models are based upon measured time-resolved absorption and emission spectra, which are two-dimensional data sets. Theoretical methods and software have been developed to identify the model and estimate the biophysical parameters that describe all data. These methods are termed global and target analysis. Key ingredients are compartmental, spectral, and thermodynamic models. The methods will be demonstrated with case studies of cyanobacterial light harvesting and photochemical quenching in vivo.
