Tubular exciton models for BChl c antennae in chlorosomes from green photosynthetic bacteria

Exciton calculations on tubular pigment aggregates similar to recently proposed models for BChl c/d/e antennae in light-harvesting chlorosomes from green photosynthetic bacteria yield electronic absorption spectra that are superimpositions of linear J-aggregate spectra. While the electronic spectroscopy of such antennae differs considerably from that of linear J-aggregates, tubular exciton models (which may be viewed as cross-coupled J-aggregates) may be constructed to yield spectra that resemble that of the BChl c antenna in the green bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus. Highly symmetric tubular models yield absorption spectra with dipole strength distributions essentially identical to that of a J-aggregate; strong symmetry-breaking is needed to simulate the absorption spectrum of the BChl c antenna.