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Biochemical Characterization of the NifB Enzyme and NifB-cofactor
Title
Biochemical Characterization of the NifB Enzyme and NifB-cofactor.
Creator
Gevorkyan, Jirair, Igarashi, Robert, Belfield, Kevin, Hernandez, Florencio, Kuebler, Stephen, Vonkalm, Laurence, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
The Mo-nitrogenase complex is composed of two components, Fe-protein and MoFe-protein. This complex is able to catalyze the reduction of N2 through the MgATP dependent transfer of electrons from the Fe-protein Fe4S4 cluster to the MoFe-protein P-cluster and, subsequently, to the iron-molybdenum cofactor (FeMo-co). FeMo-co is a Fe7S9MoC-(R)-homocitrate cluster and has two biosynthetic precursors, NifB-co and L-cluster, of unknown structure and composition. The biosynthesis of FeMo-co is an...
Show moreThe Mo-nitrogenase complex is composed of two components, Fe-protein and MoFe-protein. This complex is able to catalyze the reduction of N2 through the MgATP dependent transfer of electrons from the Fe-protein Fe4S4 cluster to the MoFe-protein P-cluster and, subsequently, to the iron-molybdenum cofactor (FeMo-co). FeMo-co is a Fe7S9MoC-(R)-homocitrate cluster and has two biosynthetic precursors, NifB-co and L-cluster, of unknown structure and composition. The biosynthesis of FeMo-co is an enigmatic process that minimally requires NifB, NifEN, Fe-protein, MoO42-, (R)-homocitrate and S-adenolsylmethionine.A means to isolate the NifB enzyme for characterization has been developed through use of a GST-fusion tag. Double recombination of A. vinelandii strains with a constructed vector has yielded strains capable of nif promoter regulated expression of GST-NifB. Extracts of strains containing GST-NifB were shown to activate the Mo-nitrogenase complex in biochemical complementation assays. Mass spectroscopy was then used to verify successful isolation of GST-NifB by GSH-Sepharose affinity purification.The number of NifB-co ligand binding sites and ligand types were examined by EXAFS analysis of samples containing selenol and thiol ligands. A Fe6S9C model for NifB-co was optimized to best fit the EXAFS data, where a 2-fold discrepancy in binding sites implied by thiol or selenol only ligand samples suggests Fe-(?2S)-Fe binding in the absence of Se. Samples containing heterogeneous ligand types indicated that NifX bound NifB-co ligates to four cysteine residues and one molecule of DTT.
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Date Issued
2013
Identifier
CFE0004682, ucf:49865
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004682
Characterization of composite broadband absorbing conjugated polymer nanoparticles by steady-state, time-resolved and single particle spectroscopy
Title
Characterization of composite broadband absorbing conjugated polymer nanoparticles by steady-state, time-resolved and single particle spectroscopy.
Creator
Bonner, Maxwell, Gesquiere, Andre, Campiglia, Andres, Santra, Swadeshmukul, Hernandez, Florencio, Perez Figueroa, Jesus, Ye, Jingdong, Fernandez-Valle, Cristina, University of...
Show moreBonner, Maxwell, Gesquiere, Andre, Campiglia, Andres, Santra, Swadeshmukul, Hernandez, Florencio, Perez Figueroa, Jesus, Ye, Jingdong, Fernandez-Valle, Cristina, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
As the global economy searches for reliable, inexpensive and environmentally friendly renewable energy resources, energy conservation by means of photovoltaics has seen near exponential growth in the last decade. Compared to state-of-the-art inorganic solar cells, organic photovoltaics (OPVs) composed of conjugated polymers are particularly interesting because of their processability, flexibility and the potential for large area devices at a reduced fabrication cost. It has been extensively...
Show moreAs the global economy searches for reliable, inexpensive and environmentally friendly renewable energy resources, energy conservation by means of photovoltaics has seen near exponential growth in the last decade. Compared to state-of-the-art inorganic solar cells, organic photovoltaics (OPVs) composed of conjugated polymers are particularly interesting because of their processability, flexibility and the potential for large area devices at a reduced fabrication cost. It has been extensively documented that the interchain and intrachain interactions of conjugated polymers complicate the fundamental understanding of the optical and electronic properties in the solid-state (i.e. thin film active layer). These interactions are highly dependent on the nanoscale morphology of the solid-state material, leading to a heterogeneous morphology where individual conjugated polymer molecules obtain a variety of different optoelectronic properties. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to fundamentally study conjugated polymer systems at the single molecule or nanoparticle level instead of the complex macroscopic bulk level.This dissertation research aims to develop simplified nanoparticle models that are representation of the nanodomains found in the solid-state material, while fundamentally addressing light harvesting, energy transfer and interfacial charge transfer mechanisms and their relationship to the electronic structure, material composition and morphology of the nanoparticle system. In preceding work, monofunctional doped nanoparticles (polymer-polymer) were fabricated with enhanced light harvesting and F?rster energy transfer properties by blending Poly[(o-phenylenevinylene)-alt-(2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylenevinylene)] (BPPV) and Poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV) at various MEH-PPV doping ratios. While single particle spectroscopy (SPS) reveals a broad distribution of optoelectronic and photophysical properties, time-correlated single photon counting (TC-SPC) spectroscopy displays multiple fluorescence lifetime components for each nanoparticle composition, resulting from changing polymer chain morphologies and polymer-polymer aggregation. In addition, difunctional doped nanoparticles were fabricated by doping the monofunctional doped nanoparticles with PC60BM ([6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester) to investigate competition between intermolecular energy transfer and interfacial charge transfer. Specifically, the difunctional SPS data illustrated enhanced and reduced energy transfer mechanisms that are dependent on the material composition of MEH-PPV and PC60BM. These data are indicative of changes in inter- and intrachain interactions of BPPV and MEH-PPV and their respective nanoscale morphologies. Together, these fundamental studies provide a thorough understanding of monofunctional and difunctional doped nanoparticle photophysics, necessary for understanding the morphological, optoelectronic and photophysical processes that can limit the efficiency of OPVs and provide insight for strategies aimed at improving device efficiencies.
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Date Issued
2011
Identifier
CFE0004089, ucf:49143
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004089

Pages