Photosystem II (PSII) uses light energy to oxidize water and to reduce plastoquinone in the photosynthetic electron transport chain. O 2 is produced as a byproduct. While most members of the PSII research community agree that O 2 originates from water molecules, alternative hypotheses involving bicarbonate persist in the literature. In this perspective, we provide an overview of the important roles of bicarbonate in regulating...

Photosynthetic water oxidation by Photosystem II (PSII) is a fascinating process because it sustains life on Earth and serves as a blue print for scalable synthetic catalysts required for renewable energy applications. The biophysical, computational, and structural description of this process, which started more than 50 years ago, has made tremendous progress over the past two decades, with its high-resolution crystal structur...

Constantin A. (Tino) Rebeiz, a pioneer in the field of chlorophyll biosynthesis, and a longtime member of the University of Illinois community of plant biologists, passed away on July 25, 2019. He came to the USA at a time that was difficult for members of minority groups to be in academia. However, his passion for the complexity of the biochemical origin of chlorophylls drove a career in basic sciences which extended into app...

We provide here a brief Tribute to Christiaan Sybesma (1928–2018), a highly respected biophysicist of our time. We remember him by giving a brief highlight of his life and a glimpse of his outstanding contributions in photosynthesis. He was a charming and highly respected scientist of our time.