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The Structure And Function Of Photosystem I And Photosystem I – Hydrogenase Protein Fusions: An Experimental And Computational Study, Bradley Jordan Harris

Doctoral Dissertations

Photosystem I (PSI) is a membrane protein involved in the photosynthetic cycle of plants, algae, and cyanobacteria that is of specific interest due to its ability to harness solar energy to generate reducing power. This work seeks to form an in vitro hybrid protein fusion between the membrane integral PSI protein and the membrane-bound hydrogenase (MBH) enzyme, in an effort to improve electron transport between these two proteins.

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) was used to characterize the detergent-solubilized solution structure of trimeric PSI from the cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus, which showed that the detergent interacts primarily with the hydrophobic periphery …