REACTION CENTER DYNAMICS

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This proposal requests a Research Career Development Award for C. Schenck. The long-term research objective of the candidate is to understand the relationship between structure and function of membrane proteins. Other long term career objectives include participation in the establishment of a stimulating training environment for graduate and post-doctoral study in biochemistry and biophysics at Colorado State University. A multidisciplinary approach to problem solving will be encouraged. A first step toward these goals is the development of a vigorous independent research program. An RCDA would allow the candidate to focus complete attention on research and research-related activities for a five year period. Specifically, an RCDA would: 1) Decrease non- research related teaching and administrative activities; 2) Allow the candidate to develop expertise in two research areas closely related to his own research, but requiring further training; 3) Benefit the Department by encouraging collaborative research interactions with at least two other faculty members in a growing research-oriented department. The bacterial reaction center is an interesting system for testing theories of biological electron transfer and protein dynamic behavior. The Research Plan describes the Candidate's short-term research goals for assessing the relationships between structure and function in this protein. Over a five-year period, the Candidate is funded to 1) generate site-directed mutations in bacterial reaction centers, 2) characterize photochemical effects of structural perturbations, 3) characterize the nature of structural perturbations using indirect spectroscopic and biochemical techniques and 4) interpret these observations using physical theories.