Eveliny Tomás Nery
About
My research project
Systematic investigation on the energy transfer mechanisms occurring within light-harvesting complexes of the purple bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroidesDuring the light dependent reactions of photosynthesis of purple bacteria, light harvesting (LH) complexes absorb and direct energy towards a reaction centre with an efficiency of approximately 95% [1]. One of the hypotheses explaining this phenomenon argues that such high efficiency is achieved thanks to a quantum coherent state occurring between the bacteriochlorophyll molecules enclosed within these proteins. In the present study we will genetically modify the scaffold of LHs expressed by Rhodobacter sphaeroides for tuning the interactions occurring between their pigment molecules. A series of time-resolved spectroscopic analysis will be then carried for a set of the variants obtained. The data collected throughout this project will constitute a foundation for experiments aiming at understanding whether quantum coherence plays a non-trivial role in photosynthesis. Moreover, it represents the first step in the development of high-performance technologies for sunlight harvesting.
[1] Fleming, G. R., van Grondelle, R. (1997). Femtosecond spectroscopy of photosynthetic light-harvesting systems. Current opinion in structural biology, 7(5), 738-748.
Supervisors
During the light dependent reactions of photosynthesis of purple bacteria, light harvesting (LH) complexes absorb and direct energy towards a reaction centre with an efficiency of approximately 95% [1]. One of the hypotheses explaining this phenomenon argues that such high efficiency is achieved thanks to a quantum coherent state occurring between the bacteriochlorophyll molecules enclosed within these proteins. In the present study we will genetically modify the scaffold of LHs expressed by Rhodobacter sphaeroides for tuning the interactions occurring between their pigment molecules. A series of time-resolved spectroscopic analysis will be then carried for a set of the variants obtained. The data collected throughout this project will constitute a foundation for experiments aiming at understanding whether quantum coherence plays a non-trivial role in photosynthesis. Moreover, it represents the first step in the development of high-performance technologies for sunlight harvesting.
[1] Fleming, G. R., van Grondelle, R. (1997). Femtosecond spectroscopy of photosynthetic light-harvesting systems. Current opinion in structural biology, 7(5), 738-748.
My qualifications
MSc Thesis Project:
Title: Life at the edge: A study on the prokaryotic communities associated
with the Assale lake and its salt flat (Danakil Depression,
Ethiopia)
Supervisor: Prof. PhD Ricardo Amils Pibernat (CBMSO, Spain)
BSc Dissertation Project:
Title: Study of a extremophilic community from the Atacama Desert,
Chile: characterization of a process of photosymbiosis
Supervisor: PhD Claudia Lage (UFRJ, Brazil)