Photosynthetic reaction centres are nature’s nanoscale solar batteries, and are attracting growing interest as power modules for applications in synthetic biology. A central aim of the research in Mike Jones’ laboratory is to develop the purple bacterial reaction centre as a photovoltaic material for use in a variety of nanoscale and macroscale contexts, including biosolar cells, biosensors, biocomputing and new molecular photocatalysts. A key underpinning technology for all of these applications is the interfacing of natural photosynthetic proteins with man-made materials that act either as electrodes or as solid supports for catalysis. Development of this technology requires re-engineering of protein surfaces that have evolved to facilitate natural protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions into surfaces that interface in a specific, stable and productive manner with man-made materials. One promising approach is to exploit protein sequence motifs that show selective affinity for one of a variety of common electrode materials such as TiO2, ZnO, SiO2, carbon nanotubes, platinum and gold.
The purpose of the project will be to engineer such peptide sequences into the purple bacterial reaction centre, either into surface-exposed loops or as N- or C-terminal extensions, to examine the resulting affinity of the protein for specific materials, to assess the photovoltaic and photocatalytic capacity of the engineered proteins and, in conjunction with the neighbouring Paul Race laboratory, to examine the structures of the engineered proteins through X-ray crystallography. This project will provide training in computer modelling of protein structure, molecular biology, membrane protein biochemistry,
microbiology, X-ray crystallography, photoelectrochemistry and steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopy. The project will form part of a network of collaborations with biochemists, chemists, physicists, engineers and materials scientists that encompasses laboratories in the UK, Netherlands, Italy, France, Hungary and Poland, and the appointee will have opportunities to visit these groups to gain first hand experience of specialist techniques.
Keywords: membrane protein, photochemistry, reaction center, photovoltaics, photocatalysis, bio-solar cells, bioenergy
Web Page http://www.bch.bris.ac.uk/staff/mrj.html
Funding Notes:
Competitive funding for UK/EU students via the BBSRC SWDTP is currently available for the following project:
Engineering and structural characterisation of photovoltaic proteins for applications in (photo) synthetic biology. Dr Jones, Dr Race
For an opportunity to undertake a SWDTP funded project with this supervisor, please visit the SWDTP website:
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/swdtp
When applying online, please ensure you include "SWDTP Funded Project" in the "Research Details" section of the online form.
References:
Tan, S.C., Crouch, L.I., Mahajan, S., Jones, M.R. and Welland, M.E. (2012) Tuning the open circuit voltage of photoprotein-based photoelectrochemical cells by manipulation of the vacuum potential of the electrolyte. ACS NANO 6, 9103-9109
Tan, S.C., Crouch, L.I., Jones, M.R. and Welland, M.E. (2012) Generation of alternating current in response to discontinuous illumination by novel photoelectrochemical cells based on photosynthetic proteins. Angewantde Chemie International Edition 51, 6667–6671
den Hollander, M.-J., Magis, J.G., Fuchsenberger, P., Aartsma, T.J., Jones, M.R. and Frese R.N. (2011) Enhanced photocurrent generation by photosynthetic bacterial reaction centers through molecular relays, light-harvesting complexes and direct protein-gold interactions. Langmuir 27, 10282-10294
Gibasiewicz, K., Pajzderska, M., Potter, J.A., Fyfe, P.K., Dobek, A., Brettel, K. and Jones, M.R. (2011) Mechanism of recombination of the P+HA- radical pair in mutant Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centers with modified free energy gaps between P+BA- and P+HA-. Journal of Physical Chemistry B 115, 13037-13050