Reaction mechanisms of DNA photolyase

Another light reaction, named photoactivation, reduces catalytically inactive FADH° to FADH− without implication of DNA. It involves electron hopping along a chain of three tryptophan residues in 30 ps, as elucidated in detail by transient absorption spectroscopy. The same triple tryptophan chain is found in cryptochrome blue-light photoreceptors and may be involved in their primary photoreaction.