This investigation will seek to determine if an electronic connection can be made between intracellular redox components of intact cells and an outside circuit. Phase I will conduct experiments on a photosynthetic microorganism (i.e., the blue- green algae, or cyanobacterium, Anacystis nidulans) for the following reasons: 1) the photosynthetic redox apparatus is activated by light and therefore convenient systems exist for initiating electron flow; and 2) intact cyanobacteria cells are quite rugged and their photosynthetic electron transport activity can be maintained over lengthy periods of time. It is anticipated that this research will result in a broad-based technique that can be applied to a range of microbes and cell types for the development of new bioelectronic devices.
