Life Sciences Commons^™

Understanding Excitation Energy Quenching In Isia, Hui-Yuan Steven Chen

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Cyanobacteria are photoautotrophic organisms that contribute a significant amount of global primary productivity. They are found in freshwater, marine and even some extremely severe environments. Among those environments, iron deficiency is one of the most common stress conditions in cyanobacterial habitats. To survive, cyanobacteria have evolved and developed several strategies to alleviate the damage caused by iron deficiency.

Iron stress-inducible protein (IsiA) is a chlorophyll-binding membrane protein found in cyanobacteria grown in iron-deficient conditions. During the past decades, considerable effort has been put on understanding how IsiA functions to help cyanobacteria survive iron deficiency. It has been reported that IsiA …

Diverse Far-Red Light Utilization Strategies In Cyanobacteria And Algae, Benjamin Martin Wolf

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In their natural environments, photosynthetic organisms are often exposed to widely varied light environments. Species adapted to shade light, often found growing in lower layers of photosynthetic biofilms, must survive on filtered light alone. Filtered light is highly enriched in far-red wavelengths, which are normally unavailable for photosynthetic energy production in most oxygenic phototrophs. To overcome light limitations in filtered light environments, some species of algae and cyanobacteria utilize specialized photosynthetic pigments and antenna systems to harvest these far-red wavelengths. By sampling the natural environment and using custom-built far-red light growth chambers, I have isolated several species of oxygenic phototrophs …

Metabolic Engineering Of Cyanobacteria For Production Of Chemicals, Po-Cheng Lin

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Concerns over the impact of climate change caused by CO2 emission have driven the research and development of renewable energies. Microbial production of chemicals is being viewed as a feasible approach to reduce the use of fossil fuels and minimize the impact of climate change. With recent advances in synthetic biology, microorganisms can be engineered to synthesize petroleum-based chemicals and plant-derived compounds. Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic prokaryotes that use only sunlight, CO2, and trace minerals for growth. Compared to other microbial hosts, cyanobacteria are attractive platforms for sustainable bioproduction, because they can directly convert CO2 into products. However, the major challenge …

Metabolic Engineering Of Cyanobacteria For Production Of Chemicals, Po-Cheng Lin

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Concerns over the impact of climate change caused by CO2 emission have driven the research and development of renewable energies. Microbial production of chemicals is being viewed as a feasible approach to reduce the use of fossil fuels and minimize the impact of climate change. With recent advances in synthetic biology, microorganisms can be engineered to synthesize petroleum-based chemicals and plant-derived compounds. Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic prokaryotes that use only sunlight, CO2, and trace minerals for growth. Compared to other microbial hosts, cyanobacteria are attractive platforms for sustainable bioproduction, because they can directly convert CO2 into products. However, the major challenge …

Building On Nature: Spectroscopic Studies Of Photosynthesis-Inspired Pigments, Fused Light Harvesting Proteins, And Bacterial Reaction Center Mutants, Kaitlyn Faries

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Photosynthesis is the dominant form of solar energy conversion on the planet, making it critical to understand the fundamentals of the process in order to effectively mimic and improve upon it for human energy needs. The initial stages of photosynthesis include light harvesting and chemical conversion of that harvested energy via electron transport, with both of these stages relying on pigments (or chromophores) such as chlorophyll and specific protein architectures for the processes. In this work, the fundamental underpinnings of photosynthetic light harvesting and electron transport are explored via spectroscopy of various photosynthetic systems with altered natural pigments and proteins. …

Use Of Proteomics To Probe Dynamic Changes In Cyanobacteria, Amelia Yen Nguyen

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cyanobacteria are unicellular photosynthetic microorganisms that capture and convert light energy to chemical energy, which is the precursor for feed, fuel, and food. These oxygenic phototrophs appear blue-green in color due to the blue bilin pigments in their phycobilisomes and green chlorophyll pigments in their photosystems. They also have diverse morphologies, and thrive in terrestrial, marine water, fresh water, as well as extreme environments. Cyanobacteria have developed a number of protective mechanisms and adaptive responses that allow the photosynthetic process to operate optimally under diverse and extreme conditions. Prolonged deprivation of essential nutrients, such as nitrogen and sulfur, commonly found …