A Facility for Biophysical, Biochemical and Molecular Genetic Studies of Photosynthesis

进行光合作用的耦合化学反应虽然对所有有机体来说并不常见，但对地球上生命的存在是最关键的之一。虽然光合作用已经被深入研究了很多年，但在分子水平上关于组成光合作用装置的蛋白质和膜是如何组装的详细结构和功能信息才刚刚开始获得。这些信息不仅对理解光合作用本身，而且对于理解高度有序的膜的结构和电子转移反应的机制都应该是有价值的。反过来，这对膜和电化学领域的生物技术的未来发展应该被证明是重要的。这项奖励将为亚利桑那州立大学的一组研究人员提供资金，用于购买先进的皮秒分光光度计、核磁共振和其他用于初级蛋白质结构测定的设备。将要进行的研究包括光合作用装置的物理、化学和遗传研究，包括光子捕获后电子转移的各个步骤。其他相关的非光合作用蛋白质的结构研究也在计划中。这些研究人员是目前在光合作用领域工作的最杰出的人员之一。除了这个奖项，他们最近还被选为三个植物研究中心奖之一。

The coupled chemical reactions that perform photosynthesis, although not common to all organisms, are among the most crucial to the existence of life on this planet. Although photosynthesis has been studied intensively for many years, detailed structural and functional information at the molecular level about how the proteins and membranes that make up the photosynthetic apparatus are assembled is just beginning to become available. Such information should prove valuable in understanding not only photosynthesis itself, but also the structure of highly ordered membranes and the mechanisms of electron transfer reactions. This, in turn, should prove important for the future development of biotechnology in the areas of membranes and electrochemistry. This award will provide funds to a group of investigators at Arizona State University for the purchase of an advanced picosecond spectrophotometer, an NMR and other equipment to be used for primary protein structure determination. The research to be performed includes physical, chemical and genetic studies of the photosynthetic apparatus, including the individual steps of electron transfer that follow photon capture. Other related structural studies of non-photosynthetic proteins are also planned. These investigators are among the most outstanding now working in the area of photosynthesis. In addition to this award, they have recently been selected to receive one of three Plant Research Center awards.