Dr. Tom Clarke, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia
Monday 9th June, 4.00 p.m., Stacey Lecture Theatre 1
Many bacteria can use solid minerals and metal oxides during respiration instead of oxygen, causing the minerals to dissolve. This process requires electrons generated during metabolism to be transported through the outer membrane of the bacterial and to the mineral surface. Our research has focused on the path these electrons take and the proteins involved in their transport. We identified a porin-cytochrome ‘wire’ that controls electron transfer through the outer membrane, and probed how the multihaem cytochromes that cover the cell surface can interact with a mineral surface.