Selected Publications
- Variable electron transfer pathways in an amphibian cryptochrome. Tryptophan versus tyrosine-based radical pair; Till Biskup, Bernd Paulus, Asako Okafuji, Kenichi Hitomi, Elizabeth D. Getzoff, Stefan Weber, Erik Schleicher; Journal of Biological Chemistry 288 (2013) 9249–9260.
- Magnetically sensitive light-induced reactions in cryptochrome are consistent with its proposed role as a magnetocrecepto; Kiminori Maeda, Alexander J. Robinson, Kevin B. Henbest, Hannah J. Hogben, Till Biskup, Margaret Ahmad, Erik Schleicher, Stefan Weber, Christiane R. Timmel, Peter J. Hore; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109 (2012) 4774–4779.
- Evidence for interstitial carbon in nitrogenase FeMo cofactor; Thomas Spatzal, Müge Aksoyoglu, Limei Zhang, Susana L.A. Andrade, Erik Schleicher, Stefan Weber, Douglas C. Rees, Oliver Einsle; Science 334 (2011) 940.
- Unexpected electron transfer in a cryptochrome identified by time-resolved EPR spectroscopy; Till Biskup, Kenichi Hitomi, Elizabeth D. Getzoff, Sebastian Krapf, Thorsten Koslowski, Erik Schleicher, Stefan Weber; Angewandte Chemie International Edition 50 (2011) 12647–12651.
- Direct observation of a photoinduced radical pair in a cryptochrome blue-light recepto; Till Biskup, Erik Schleicher, Asako Okafuji, Gerhard Link, Kenichi Hitomi, Elizabeth D. Getzoff, Stefan Weber; Angewandte Chemie International Edition 48 (2009) 404–407.
FRIAS Project
Designed quantum transport in complex materials.
Within the FRIAS priority program, we plan to investigate radical-pair based magnetoreceptor molecules of the type proposed to be utilized by migratory birds for navigation along the Earth’s magnetic field. Cryptochrome, a flavin-based photoreceptor and a candidate protein for the birds’ magnetic sense, provides an electron-transfer cascade for efficient and fast light-induced electron transfer over rather long distances. We will examine spin-multiplicity evolution in electron transfer and its consequences for the primary photochemistry of various members of the cryptochrome protein family, for which electron-transfer diversity has been reported despite high structural conservation. Combined with theoretical studies (together with Andreas Buchleitner) we will try to unravel common mechanistic schemes and how these can be exploited to increase the efficiency of light-to-energy conversion devices (together with Eicke R. Weber).