Acquisition of a Time-Resolved Spectrofluorometer

该提案要求为获得时间分辨荧光光谱仪提供支持。这种设备可以测量生物能量转换和光诱导的生物分子和膜结构变化的非常快的过程，发生在微秒到100皮秒的时间尺度上。该仪器将是内布拉斯加大学唯一的同类仪器。由于该仪器在研究生物能量转换（如光合作用和光生物学）和生物分子系统（如生物膜和蛋白质）的结构变化中涉及的非常快速的反应中是必不可少的，因此预计UNL的许多研究人员将在他们的研究中使用该设备。研究生也将在训练和研究生研究中使用这些设备。预计用该设备进行的初步实验包括：(1)光敏色素的光转化研究，光敏色素是绿色植物光合机构生物发生的基因表达的光调节器，(2)光合色素的结构和地形，以及(3)DNA的结构-功能关系和动态特性。蛋白质和模型生物膜。提出的研究的前两个领域集中在阐明植物光生物系统中基于四吡咯的光感受器的主要分子过程。

This proposal requests support to obtain a Time-Resolved Spectrofluorometer. This equipment enables one to measure very fast processes, occurring in the time scales of microsecond to 100 picoseconds, in biological energy conversion and light- induced structural changes in biomolecules and membranes. The proposed instrument will be the only one of its kind at the University of Nebraska. Since this instrument is essential in studying very fast reactions involved in biological energy conversion (as in photosynthesis and photobiology) and structural changes of the biomolecules systems (as biomembranes and proteins), a number of researchers at UNL are expected to make use of this equipment in their research. Graduate students will also be exposed to this equipment for their training and graduate research. The initial experiments anticipated to be performed with this equipment include studies of (1) the phototransformation of phytochrome, a light-regulator of gene expression for the biogenesis of photosynthetic apparatus in green plants, (2) the structure and topography of photosynthetic pigments, and (3) structure-function relationships and dynamic properties of DNA, proteins and model biological membranes. The first two areas of the proposed studies focus on elucidating the primary molecular processes of the tetrapyrrole-based photoreceptors in plant photobiological systems.