Characterisation of electron transport in a bacterial nano-wire protein through high performance computing and experimentation
Lead Research Organisation:
University of East Anglia
Department Name: Chemistry
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Publications
Ainsworth EV
(2016)
Photoreduction of Shewanella oneidensis Extracellular Cytochromes by Organic Chromophores and Dye-Sensitized TiO2.
in Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology
Futera Z
(2020)
Coherent Electron Transport across a 3 nm Bioelectronic Junction Made of Multi-Heme Proteins.
in The journal of physical chemistry letters
Garg K
(2018)
Direct evidence for heme-assisted solid-state electronic conduction in multi-heme c-type cytochromes.
in Chemical science
Jiang X
(2020)
Which Multi-Heme Protein Complex Transfers Electrons More Efficiently? Comparing MtrCAB from Shewanella with OmcS from Geobacter.
in The journal of physical chemistry letters
Lockwood CWJ
(2018)
Membrane-spanning electron transfer proteins from electrogenic bacteria: Production and investigation.
in Methods in enzymology
Piper S
(2022)
Photocatalytic Removal of the Greenhouse Gas Nitrous Oxide by Liposomal Microreactors
in Angewandte Chemie
Piper SEH
(2022)
Photocatalytic Removal of the Greenhouse Gas Nitrous Oxide by Liposomal Microreactors.
in Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English)
Piper SEH
(2021)
Bespoke Biomolecular Wires for Transmembrane Electron Transfer: Spontaneous Assembly of a Functionalized Multiheme Electron Conduit.
in Frontiers in microbiology
Van Wonderen J
(2018)
Photosensitised Multiheme Cytochromes as Light-Driven Molecular Wires and Resistors
in ChemBioChem
| Description | Multiheme cytochromes play essential roles in moving electrons across the outermembranes of bacteria allowing electron exchange between extracelluar and intracellular environments. We have developed a method for light-driven electron injection into purified multiheme cytochromes. Transient absorbance has revealed the contributions of multiple conformers to charge separation and charge recombination in the photosensitised proteins. Continuous irradiation of the photosensitised proteins has shown they are able to pass electrons to other redox proteins providing a potential route to study inter-protein electron transfer. Measurements of solid state conductance has revealed a tetraheme cytochrome supports much higher conductance that proteins of equivalent dimension with either a single heme, or Cu center. Through protein engineering we have increased the lifetime of the charge separated state in a manner that should allow more effective coupling of light-driven electron transfer and chemical catalysis through (semi-)artificial photosynthesis. |
| Exploitation Route | There is considerable interest in developing electron exchange between extracellular electrodes and intracellular processes for the sustainable production of electricity and chemicals. With the aim of producing high-value products from readily available oxidized precursors, bacteria can receive electrons from cathodes to drive reductive intracellular transformations and the opportunities for such microbial electrosynthesis attracts much interest for carbon dioxide sequestration and niche industrial application. Bioremediation can be coupled to electricity production, for example in microbial fuel cells, when the direction of electron transfer is reversed and electrons are delivered to an anode from intracellular oxidative transformations. Multiheme cytochromes underpin these processes and our findings could underpin the development of novel photosystems and allow measurement of rates of electron transfer through multiheme cytochromes to underpin rational improvements in biotechnology for sustainable electricity and chemicals production. |
| Sectors | Chemicals,Electronics,Energy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Description | Our demonstration of light-driven reduction of multiheme cytochromes and rapid electron transfer in multiheme cytochromes has been key to securing BBSRC funding supported by Johnson Matthey to investigate these materials at catalysts allowing the recovery of valuable metals from 'waste streams'. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
| Description | Workshop on Protein Electrochemistry BISON |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | New skills and approaches to research were displayed by the participants after completing the course. |
| Description | BETTER BY DESIGN: CHEMICALLY DIVERSE BIOMOLECULAR WIRES |
| Amount | £188,675 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | RPG-2020-085 |
| Organisation | The Leverhulme Trust |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | Biohybrids for Solar Chemicals and Fuels: Whole-cell Photocatalysis by Non-photosynthetic Organisms. |
| Amount | £1,220,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/S002499/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2019 |
| End | 12/2021 |
| Description | Creating and comprehending the circuitry of life: precise biomolecular design of multi-centre redox enzymes for a synthetic metabolism |
| Amount | £4,900,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/W003449/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2022 |
| End | 11/2027 |
| Description | Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship |
| Amount | £54,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | The Royal Society |
| Department | Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2015 |
| End | 09/2016 |
| Description | Tuning extracellular cytochromes for enhanced metal recovery and nanoparticle formation |
| Amount | £290,637 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/X011453/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2023 |
| End | 01/2025 |
| Title | Nanosecond heme-to-heme electron transfer rates in a multiheme cytochrome nanowire reported by a spectrally unique His/Met-ligated heme using pump-probe spectroscopy. |
| Description | Data from spectroscopic, electrochemical, voltammetric and computational studies as presented in van Wonderen et al 'Nanosecond heme-to-heme electron transfer rates in a multiheme cytochrome nanowire reported by a spectrally unique His/Met-ligated heme'. Data presented in the Main and Supporting Information Appendix are included. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/van_Wonderen_et_al_PNAS_2021_Data_Sets_xlsx/16621714/1 |
| Title | Nanosecond heme-to-heme electron transfer rates in a multiheme cytochrome nanowire reported by a spectrally unique His/Met-ligated heme using pump-probe spectroscopy. |
| Description | Data from spectroscopic, electrochemical, voltammetric and computational studies as presented in van Wonderen et al 'Nanosecond heme-to-heme electron transfer rates in a multiheme cytochrome nanowire reported by a spectrally unique His/Met-ligated heme'. Data presented in the Main and Supporting Information Appendix are included. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/van_Wonderen_et_al_PNAS_2021_Data_Sets_xlsx/16621714 |
| Title | Nanosecond heme-to-heme electron transfer rates in a multiheme cytochrome nanowire reported by a spectrally unique His/Met-ligated heme using pump-probe spectroscopy. van Wonderen et al |
| Description | Spectroscopic, electrochemical and voltammetric data desribing properties of photosensitized MtrC proteins. The data are presented as figures in van Wonderen et al 'Nanosecond heme-to-heme electron transfer rates in a spectrally unique His/Met-ligated heme', the manuscript and supporting information appendix. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Nanosecond_heme-to-heme_electron_transfer_rates_in_a_multiheme... |
| Title | Nanosecond heme-to-heme electron transfer rates in a multiheme cytochrome nanowire reported by a spectrally unique His/Met-ligated heme using pump-probe spectroscopy. van Wonderen et al |
| Description | Spectroscopic, electrochemical and voltammetric data desribing properties of photosensitized MtrC proteins. The data are presented as figures in van Wonderen et al 'Nanosecond heme-to-heme electron transfer rates in a spectrally unique His/Met-ligated heme', the manuscript and supporting information appendix. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Nanosecond_heme-to-heme_electron_transfer_rates_in_a_multiheme... |
| Title | Photocatalytic Removal of the Greenhouse Gas Nitrous Oxide by Liposomal Microreactors Piper et al |
| Description | Data from spectroscopy and gas chromatography with corresponding plots of analyte concentration with time. Data from dynamic light scattering and mass spectrometry (LC-MS) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Photocatalytic_Removal_of_the_Greenhouse_Gas_Nitrous_Oxide_by_... |
| Title | Photocatalytic Removal of the Greenhouse Gas Nitrous Oxide by Liposomal Microreactors Piper et al |
| Description | Data from spectroscopy and gas chromatography with corresponding plots of analyte concentration with time. Data from dynamic light scattering and mass spectrometry (LC-MS) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Photocatalytic_Removal_of_the_Greenhouse_Gas_Nitrous_Oxide_by_... |
| Description | Solid state electronic conduction in multiheme cytochromes |
| Organisation | Weizmann Institute of Science |
| Country | Israel |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Multiheme cytochrome designed to have single cysteine adjacent to terminus of heme wire at defined site on surface was designed and purified. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Measurements of solid state conductance by the aforementioned multiheme cytochrome were performed. |
| Impact | Multi-disciplinary collaboration: physics, biophysics, biochemistry, theoretical chemistry. One manuscript published (Garg et al Chem. Sci. 2018 DOI: 10.1039/c8sc01716f) A second manuscript is under review. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | transient absorbance at RAL |
| Organisation | Research Complex at Harwell |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Initiated the collaboration, provided the samples for measurements, assisted with data collection, performed the data analysis and interpretation. |
| Collaborator Contribution | instrument development necessary to perform the desired measurements (time resolved absorbance pico- to micro-second resolution) |
| Impact | Multidisciplinary collaboration: biochemistry, physics, computation. One paper published from the collaboration (van Wonderen et al J. Am Chem Soc 2019 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b06858) Data collection and analysis for a second publication is complete. Manuscript writing will start soon. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Anglian Water Discussion |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Technology Director for Anglian Water visited UEA and spoke with research leaders on a number of projects identified as having potential interest to their business. The use of bacteria in 'sludge' to produce electricity was a novel concept to the Director, follow up e-mails passed on relevant technical reports and literature. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Interactive Display at Latitude Festival, Suffolk, 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | >1100 people visited our interactive display over 3 days in the Kids Zone at Latitude festival. Through experiments, games and virtual reality our visitors learnt about different types of energy, interconversion of types of energy,microbial fuel cells, electricity producing bacteria and proteins that conduct electricity across cell walls. Our engaging activities sparked lively discussion among our visitors and it was clear that they all (kids, parents and grandparents) left us with a great excitement for science. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.sawtrust.org/news/latitude-festival-2018/ |
| Description | Interactive Display at Norwich Science Festival October 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Forum, in the centre of Norwich, was the location for our interactive display during a day of the Norwich Science Festival. Through experiments, games and virtual reality our visitors learnt about different types of bacteria, learnt about microbial fuel cells and electrically conductive proteins. There were > 1000 visitors and informal feedback showed they had learnt something new about sustainable technology, physics and biology from their visit. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://norwichsciencefestival.co.uk/ |
| Description | Interactive Display on our research as part of the 'Norwich Science Festival' at the Royal Norfolk Show June 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interactive displays on energy transfer, energy for life, electroactive bacteria as biobatteries, proteins that form molecular wires, new approaches to artificial photosynthesis. All displays were available for use by the general public. Questions raised by, and discussion with, the visitors were wide-ranging and allowed us to describe our research in great detail and in the context of contributions to novel biotechnology for energy and chemicals. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Norwich Science Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Demonstrations of microbial fuel cells accompanied by virtual reality headsets that allowed a 'journey' through the bacteria to see the enzymes key to operation of the fuel cell. Much discussion and questions arising from this. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017 |
| Description | Press Release MHC review |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | not known |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Public Talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An informal presentation on 'biobatteries' and extracellular electron transfer at pub in Norwich City Centre. Attended by approximately 30 members of public including school teachers and electrical engineers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.meetup.com/Norwich-Biomakers/events/243884032/?_cookie-check=XxyoJwuy8pUP8Sx_ |
| Description | Royal Norfolk Show 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Over 2 days many representatives from industry/business in addition to general public and school children visited our display and engaged in discussion about our research, its possible technological impact and the underlying scientific principles. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017 |
| Description | Royal Norfolk Show 2017 Education Zone |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Prior to the event Local Schools supplied soil from their grounds. This was loaded into Microbial Fuel Cells and their performance (power output and longevity) was reported at the Royal Norfolk Show alongside virtual reality experience of extracellular electron transfer process for H2 production and a short talk covering key principles of biological H2 production. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | School visit (Norwich) with experiments |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | science workshops for key stage 1 (5 - 7 yr) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017 |
| Description | SynBio 4 Schools Teacher Resource Pack |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Developed by OpenPlant scientists from across the University of Cambridge, Norwich Research Park and beyond, a free to use resource, SynBio 4 Schools, aims to inspire and educate the next generation of biological engineers. With a focus on plant science the materials and activities provided within the resource cover under-represented topics in synthetic biology, while complementing the national curriculum and existing teaching resources. The SynBio 4 Schools booklet, which includes a full introduction to the resource, step by step activity instructions and supplementary information, is also accompanied by a teacher briefing document to help teachers and schools, identify activities relevant to each stage of the curriculum. This research project contributed an introduction to the biomolecular protein nanowires that allow electricity production by bacteria growing on root exudates. SynBio 4 Schools was officially launched by video conference in Feb 2022 to an international audience. Materials were developed from 2019 and the planned in person launch was delayed and finally postponed due to COVID-19. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020,2022 |
| URL | https://www.openplant.org/synbio-4-schools |
| Description | Talk at IET meeting Shrewsbury March 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at a meeting of The Institution of Engineering and Technology in Shrewsbury. The significance of bio-electricity to ATP production was explained, electricity production by bacteria was explained and microbial fuel cells demonstrated and discussed. Our related, new research into (semi-)artificial photosynthesis was introduced. Discussion after the talk was lively and touched on wide-ranging topics. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Talk at Norwich Science Festival October 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A talk on electrically conductive proteins and electricity producing bacteria. There were lots of questions and discussion, during and after the talk. From those it was clear that the topics sparked lots of interest in the physics of biology and new approaches to eco-friendly electricity production. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://norwichsciencefestival.co.uk/ |
| Description | Talk for Oxford Energy Society |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Attendees joined a virtual seminar hosted by the Oxford Energy Society. The presentation sparked questions and discussion on a range of topics indicating engagement with participants from a range of different disciplines. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | UEA Open Day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | interactive demonstrations run throughout the day prompted ongoing discussions with visitors about our research. many people noted the research was fascinating and they were not aware of it previously |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018 |