In memory of Vladimir Anatolievich Shuvalov (1943-2022): an outstanding biophysicist

Lyudmila G Vasilieva; Olga P Kaminskaya; Andrei G Yakovlev; Anatoliy Ya Shkuropatov; Alexey Yu Semenov; Victor A Nadtochenko; Alexander A Krasnovsky Jr; William W Parson; Suleyman I Allakhverdiev; Govindjee Govindjee

doi:10.1007/s11120-022-00932-9

In memory of Vladimir Anatolievich Shuvalov (1943-2022): an outstanding biophysicist

Photosynth Res. 2022 Nov;154(2):207-223. doi: 10.1007/s11120-022-00932-9. Epub 2022 Sep 7.

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Basic Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino Moscow Region, Pushchino, Russian Federation.
² A.N. Belozersky Institute of Physical-Chemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, 1, Moscow, 119992, Russian Federation.
³ N.N. Semenov Federal Research Center for Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Kosygina St. 4, Moscow, 117977, Russian Federation.
⁴ Bach Institute of Biochemistry, Federal Research Center of Biotechnology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119071, Russian Federation.
⁵ Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA. parsonb@u.washington.edu.
⁶ Institute of Basic Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino Moscow Region, Pushchino, Russian Federation. suleyman.allakhverdiev@gmail.com.
⁷ K.A. Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation. suleyman.allakhverdiev@gmail.com.
⁸ Department of Biochemistry, Department of Plant Biology and Center of Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 289 Morrill Hall, 505 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA. gov@illinois.edu.

PMID: 36070062
DOI: 10.1007/s11120-022-00932-9

Abstract

We present here a tribute to one of the foremost biophysicists of our time, Vladimir Anatolievich Shuvalov, who made important contributions in bioenergetics, especially on the primary steps of conversion of light energy into charge-separated states in both anoxygenic and oxygenic photosynthesis. For this, he and his research team exploited pico- and femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy, photodichroism & circular dichroism spectroscopy, light-induced FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared) spectroscopy, and hole-burning spectroscopy. We remember him for his outstanding leadership and for being a wonderful mentor to many scientists in this area. Reminiscences by many [Suleyman Allakhverdiev (Russia); Robert Blankenship (USA); Richard Cogdell (UK); Arvi Freiberg (Estonia); Govindjee Govindjee (USA); Alexander Krasnovsky, jr, (Russia); William Parson (USA); Andrei Razjivin (Russia); Jian- Ren Shen (Japan); Sergei Shuvalov (Russia); Lyudmilla Vasilieva (Russia); and Andrei Yakovlev (Russia)] have included not only his wonderful personal character, but his outstanding scientific research.

Keywords: Charge separation; Cytochromes; Delayed light emission; Femtosecond spectroscopy; Photosystem I; Photosystem II; Primary photochemistry; Reaction centers.