Michelle Mac Brooks

Assistant Professor
Biophysical Chemistry

research

Structure-function relationships in biology and chemistry have long been the focal point of research that is aimed at understanding the mechanism of metabolic processes in vivo, with the ultimate goal of reproducing them in vitro. The ability of an organism to utilize a single cofactor to perform a variety of functions is energetically economical and elegant in its simplicity. Oxygen-evolving photosynthetic organisms exhibit this behavior via the ubiquitous chlorophyll molecule, which is used throughout the plant to harvest light, and to transfer energy; it is a key component in the electron transfer processes that produce the biomolecules necessary for the growth of the plant. Chlorophyll molecules are also involved intimately in the chemical reactions that result in the production of the molecular oxygen essential for the existence of mammalian organisms. Interestingly, the in vivo geometric structure of each chlorophyll molecule is identical regardless of its function and, more importantly, does not differ from the structure in vitro. Since the geometric arrangement of these molecules is not dependent on function, the chemistry must be modulated on a molecular or electronic level. The research in my group is aimed at the use of high resolution electron magnetic resonance spectroscopy to elucidate the electronic structure of chlorophyll radicals in vitro and compare them to the in vivo electronic structures.

Publications

plants