Developing Bacterial Nanowires for Light-Driven Catalysis

受自然光合作用的启发，解决纯合成方法的局限性，这个博士项目旨在通过设计和组装新型无机：生物杂化材料，为光驱动化学合成提供原理证明。该项目将建立将坚固的合成光收集材料与非光合作用细菌结合在一起的方法，以实现化学转化的可持续解决方案。希瓦氏细菌的表面将利用对MTR蛋白质复合体的详细了解来选择性地用捕光分子标记。MTR蛋白质复合体是一种生物分子导线，它通过细菌外膜传导电子。通过这种方式，光的吸收将驱动电子穿过细菌外膜，进而由细菌内部的酶催化氧化还原。在该项目期间，将设计MTR变体，以呈现不同的标签站点。变异体将被提纯、标记并合并到囊泡中，在那里它们通过脂质双层执行光驱动电子转移的能力将被量化。对于表现最好的MTR变种，将制定它们在细菌上贴标签的协议，并将量化光驱动燃料的生产，例如氢(从水中)和甲酸盐(从温室气体二氧化碳中)。

Inspired by natural photosynthesis and addressing limitations of purely synthetic approaches, this PhD project aims to provide proof of principle for light-driven chemical synthesis through the design and assembly of novel inorganic:biological hybrid materials.The project will establish methods to combine robust, synthetic light-harvesting materials with non-photosynthetic bacteria in a sustainable solution to delivering chemical transformations. The surface of Shewanella bacteria will be site-selectively labelled with light-harvesting molecules using detailed knowledge of the MTR protein complex, a biological molecular wire, that conducts electrons across the bacterial outer membrane. In this way, absorption of light will drive electrons across the bacterial outer membrane and, in turn, redox catalysis by enzymes inside the bacterium. During the project MTR variants will be designed to present different sites for labelling. The variants will be purified, labelled and incorporated into vesicles where their ability to perform light-driven electron transfer across a lipid bilayer will be quantified. For the best-performing MTR variants, protocols for their labelling on bacteria will be established, and light-driven production of fuels, for example, hydrogen (from water) and formate (from the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide), will be quantified.