Clyde Cady
From WikidChem
Clyde is a graduate student in the Brudvig Lab.
Research
Mechanistic studies of Photosystem II
Photosystem II (PSII) is the first of two proteins that facilitate photosynthesis and is responsible for the generation of molecular oxygen from water in all green plants. While interest in photosystem II has been high for many years is has defied most attempts at understanding the mechanism by which it converts two water molecules and four flashes of light into oxygen and protons. In our lab we attack the question of how PSII functions through two methods. Half of our lab concentrates on directly studying the protein through such methods as EPR, Near-IR spectroscopy, and mass spec. while the other half of the lab, of which I am a part, designs small molecule mimics which still retain the ability to oxidize water but are much easier to study by using the many spectroscopic methods available to the bioinorganic chemist.
