Molecular Mechanism of Flavin Photoprotection by Archaeal Dodecin: Photoinduced Electron Transfer and Mg-Promoted Proton Transfer.

Photoinduced biochemical reactions are ubiquitously governed by derivatives of flavin, which is a key player in a manifold of cellular redox reactions. The photoreactivity of flavins is also one of their greatest disadvantages as the molecules are sensitive to photodegradation. To prevent this unfavorable reaction, UV-light-exposed archaea bacteria, such as Halobacterium salinarum, manage the task of protecting flavin derivatives by dodecin, a protein which stores flavins and efficiently photoprotects them.

Explaining level inversion of the La and Lb States of indole and indole derivatives in polar solvents.

Quantum chemical methods are used to study the solvent effects on the spectra of indole and a series of methyl-substituted indoles. We focus on the low-lying L(a) and L(b) states and study their interplay. We find that the solvent mainly affects emission from the L(a) state, by stabilizing its energy in its excited-state geometry.

Ballistic charge transport through bio-molecules in a dissipative environment.

The question whether dissipative bio-molecular systems can support efficient coherent (phase-conserving) charge transport is raised again following recent experiments on electron-energy transfer in bio-molecules. In this work we formulate conditions under which the current due to coherent ballistic resonant charge transport through DNA molecular junctions can be measured in spite of coupling to the dissipative environment.