John Golbeck

Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics
Professor of Chemistry

310 South Frear Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802
Phone: (814) 865-1163
Fax: (814) 863-7024
E-mail: jhg5@psu.edu

B.S. in Chemistry from Valparaiso University
Ph.D. in Chemistry from Indiana University

Golbeck Lab Web Site

My students and I are involved in four areas of photosynthesis research.

Structure/Function Studies of Photosystem I in Cyanobacteria

The first area involves largely biophysical techniques, and includes study of the structure, function and organization of the Photosystem I reaction center complex in cyanobacteria and plants. Our goal is to discover how reaction centers convert light into chemical free energy with a quantum efficiency of nearly 100%.

Bioassembly of Photosystem I in Cyanobacteria and Plants

The second area involves largely molecular biological techniques, and includes study of the genes, proteins, and factors involved in the assembly of iron-sulfur clusters, particularly those which participate in Photosystem I. Our goal is to discover how its bioassembly is regulated, and focusses on the regulation of the Suf and Isc systems of iron-sulfur cluster assembly.

Type I Reaction Centers in Photosynthetic Anaerobes

The third area involves largely biochemical techniques, and includes study of structure, function and organization the photosynthetic reaction centers in the anaerobic heliobacteria and green sulfur bacteria. Our goal is to uncover the protein and cofactor composition of photosynthetic reaction centers in these primitive anaerobic organisms.

The fourth area involves the fabrication and study of an engineered biological/organic hybrid half-cell that couples Photosystem I, which efficiently captures and stores the energy derived from sunlight, with a hydrogenase, which generates high rates of dihydrogen with the input of Gibbs free energy. The challenge is to deliver the low-potential electron from Photosystem I to the hydrogenase in vitro using a method that does not depend on inefficient solution (diffusion) chemistry.