Funds are requested for the purchase of an X-band Bruker ESP 300- 10/12 electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometer with a liquid helium temperature cryostat. EPR spectroscopy is an essential component of four biochemical/biophysical research programs in the Chemistry Department and Center for Metalloenzyme Studies at the University of Georgia, all of which focus on the role of transition metals in metalloenzymes and metalloproteins. The requested spectrometer will facilitate EPR studies of Fe-S clusters in the mitochondrial respiratory chain and at the active sites of range of different metalloenzymes, binuclear Fe centers in hemerythrin and rubreythrin, binuclear Mn centers in ribonucleotide reductase, the Ni-containing F 430 cofactor of S- methyl coenzyme M reductase, and Co in Co(II)-substituted alcohol dehydrogenases. The proposed instrument will be used for training and research directly related to the NSF research training group in the role of transition metals in biology at the University of Georgia.
