Resonance energy transfer between FMN molecules in the presence of dimers: A review

This review describes theoretical and experimental methods used to study nonradiative energy transport (NET) occurring between molecules both in solid and in liquid solutions. In particular, the methods mentioned are applied in studying energy transport between FMN molecules playing the role of chromophores in blue light photoreceptors in many living organisms. The application of the Bojarski theory of multistep energy transfer and SCDM theoretical model as well as Monte Carlo simulations to analyze spectroscopic data of fluorescence quantum yield and emission anisotropy of FMN allows to understand the paths of energy transfer in the set of FMN monomers and dimers in liquid, viscous and rigid solutions (energy transfer from M* to D, energy migration between monomers and dimers as well as reverse energy transfer). Evidence is provided for the "blue" and "red" monomer and dimer species, which lead to dispersive energy transfer taking place from more to less energetic FMN luminescent centers. The parameters characterizing energy transport are calculated and provided. The explained complex character of energy transport in the system studied may be important for analyzing processes occurring in biological systems containing FMN or other photobiological molecules connected with light-harvesting proteins. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.