Usage of Solar Energy for the Bioelectrocatalysis – Photobiohybrid Eletrodes for the Light-Driven Synthesis of Valuable Substances (II, SP B)

The aims of the Tandem-project are light-triggered electrodes for efficient energy conversion. In the frame of the prolonged period of work it is planned to increase the efficiency of photobio-electrodes and also to couple them with enzymatic conversions. This shall result in a system based on the usage of solar energy for photocurrent generation in combination with the synthesis of valuable substances.
Our project mainly focuses on different protein structures and its characterization for biohybrid applications. One prerequisite for improving the effectiveness of photo-bioelectrodes is the synthesis of very pure and fully active Photosystem I (PSI) complexes. Instead of using PSI crystalline protein, you can also use other photoactive protein complexes, e.g. the reaction center from green sulphur bacteria. We have planned to establish the cultivation of cells to achieve homogenous, fully active proteins. Thereby, the proteins are biochemically, biophysically and structurally characterized. In addition to this, we want to implement the synthesis and isolation of some redox-proteins (e.g. cytochromes) and their interaction with PSI. Furthermore, modifications on PSI are planned.
Another focus lies on generating functional fusion proteins, e.g. formate dehydrogenase (FDH) with PSI. Pre-condition is targeted mutations on PSI or FDH. Moreover, we want to assemble constructs of PSI-subunits with ferredoxin or other redox proteins (e.g. cytochrome P450) and analyse its synthesized products.The long-term objective is the application of a functionally active PSI-enzyme system onto a 3D electrode structure.