Structure of the bacteriophage PhiKZ non-virion RNA polymerase.

Bacteriophage ΦKZ (PhiKZ) is the archetype of a family of massive bacterial viruses. It is considered to have therapeutic potential as its host, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is an opportunistic, intrinsically antibiotic resistant, pathogen that kills tens of thousands worldwide each year. ΦKZ is an incredibly interesting virus, expressing many systems that the host already possesses.

Relaxation times measurement in single and multiply excited xenon clusters.

Direct measurement of the rates of nonradiative relaxation processes in electronically excited xenon clusters was carried out. The clusters were created in a pulsed supersonic beam and two-photon excited by femtosecond laser pulses with a wavelength of 263 nm. The measurements were performed using the pump-probe method and electron spectroscopy.

DNA as UV light-harvesting antenna.

The ordered structure of UV chromophores in DNA resembles photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes in which quantum coherence effects play a major role in highly efficient directional energy transfer. The possible role of coherent excitons in energy transport in DNA remains debated. Meanwhile, energy transport properties are greatly important for understanding the mechanisms of photochemical reactions in cellular DNA and for DNA-based artificial nanostructures.

Supramolecular Au(I)-Cu(I) Complexes as New Luminescent Labels for Covalent Bioconjugation.

Two new supramolecular organometallic complexes, namely, [Au6Cu2(C2C6H4CHO)6(PPh2C6H4PPh2)3](PF6)2 and [Au6Cu2(C2C6H4NCS)6(PPh2C6H4PPh2)3](PF6)2, with highly reactive aldehyde and isothiocyanate groups have been synthesized and characterized using X-ray crystallography, ESI mass spectrometry, and NMR spectroscopy. The compounds obtained demonstrated bright emission in solution with the excited-state lifetime in microsecond domain both under single- and two-photon excitation. The luminescent complexes were found to be suitable for bioconjugation in aqueous media.