Abstract

The reaction center (RC) complex of the green sulfur bacterium Chlorobaculum tepidum is composed of the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) antenna protein and the reaction center core (RCC) complex. The RCC complex has four subunits: PscA, PscB, PscC, and PscD. The structure of the intact and functional FMO-RCC complex was studied by chemically cross-linking the purified sample followed by biochemical and spectroscopic analysis. The interaction sites of the cross-linked complex were also studied using LC-MS/MS. A structural model is proposed based on those results. In addition, the RCC complexes were purified, both the PscA-PscC complex from the Chlorobaculum tepidum and the PscA-PscB complex from Prosthecochloris aestuarii. The intact FMO-RCC complex and the RCC complexes were further studied comparatively by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence and femtosecond time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopies to elucidate the pathway of FMO-to-RCC inter-protein energy transfer as well as RCC intra-protein energy and electron transfer.

Committee Chair

Robert E Blankenship

Committee Members

Dewey Holten, Michael L Gross, Timothy Wencewicz, Liviu Mirica, Joseph Jez,

Comments

Permanent URL: https://doi.org/10.7936/K79C6VMH

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Author's Department

Chemistry

Author's School

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Document Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

Summer 8-15-2015

Language

English (en)

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