This award supports a two-year collaborative research project between Professor Melvin Okamura of the University of California, San Diego and Professor Teizo Kitagawa of the Institute for Molecular Science, Okazaki National Research Institutes, Japan. The study involves the use of resonance Raman spectroscopy to study the structure and dynamics of quinones in the bacterial reaction center, a protein that is involved in the primary electron and proton transfer processes in photosynthesis. The project combines the extensive experience on reaction centers of Professor Okamura's group with the expertise in resonance Raman spectroscopy of the Okazaki group. The results should lead to new information about the mechanism of solar energy conversion.
