Peridinin-chlorophyll-protein complex Peridinin-chlorophyll-protein complex The peridinin-chlorophyll-protein complex (PCP or PerCP) is a soluble molecular complex consisting of the peridinin-chlorophyll a-protein bound to peridinin, chlorophyll, and lipids. The peridinin molecules absorb light in the blue-green wavelengths (470 to 550 nm) and transfer energy to the chlorophyll molecules with extremely high efficiency. PCP complexes are found in many photosynthetic dinoflagellates, in which they may be the primary light-harvesting complexes. The PCP protein has been identified in dinoflagellate genomes in at least two forms, a homodimeric form composed of two 15-kD monomers, and a monomeric form of around 32kD believed to have evolved from the
Light-harvesting complexes of green plants pigment molecules and the energy they absorb is shuttled by resonance energy transfer to a specialized chlorophyll-protein complex known as the reaction center of each photosystem. The reaction center initiates a complex series of chemical reactions that capture energy in the form of chemical bonds. For photosystem II, when either of the two chlorophyll "a" molecules at the reaction center absorb energy, an electron is excited and transferred to an electron acceptor molecule, pheophytin, leaving the chlorophyll "a" in an oxidized state. The oxidised chlorophyll "a" replaces the electrons by photolysis that involves the oxidation of water molecules to oxygen,