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R. David Britt
Professor

Email: britt@chem.ucdavis.edu
Phone:(530) 752-6377

B.S., North Carolina State University, 1978. M.A.
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1980
1988. Dreyfus Award, 1989-94.
Appointed to faculty, UC Davis, 1989-.
Group Page
Principal Research Interests
The Britt group's research focuses on the biological chemistry enabled by transition metals and amino acid and cofactor radicals. Much of our work is directed towards photosynthesis, particularly the Photosystem II oxygen evolving complex, which harnesses the energy of visible light photons to split water, producing molecular oxygen and biologically activated electrons and protons. This chemistry occurs in a catalytic complex containing a tetranuclear cluster of high valence manganese ions and a photogenerated tyrosine amino acid radical, along with essential Cl- and Ca2+ cofactors. Other current research interests include the function of Photosystem I, cytochrome c oxidase, manganese catalase, and the biological roles of vanadium. We are also exploring the binding of metal ions to nucleic acids and how such metal centers are involved in ribozyme catalytic function.
Representative Publications

Elliot, S.J., D.W. Randall, R.D. Britt, and S.I. Chan. (1998) Pulsed EPR studies of particulate methane monooxygenase from Methylococcus capsulatus (bath): Evidence for histidine ligation. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 120, 3247-3248.

Force, D. A., Randall, D. W., Lorigan, G. A., Clemens, K. L., and Britt, R. D. (1998) ESEEM Studies of Alcohol Binding to the Manganese Cluster of the Oxygen Evolving Complex of Photosystem II. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 120, 13321-13333.

Messinger, J., Robblee, J. H., Fernandez, C., Cinco, R. M., Visser, H., Bergmann, U., Glatzel, P., Cramer, S. P., Campbell, K. A., Peloquin, J. M., Britt, R. D., Sauer, K., Yachandra, V. K. and Klein, M. P. (1998) Oxidation States and Structure of the Manganese Cluster in the S0 Stateof the Oxygen Evolving Complex. In Photosynthesis: Mechanisms and Effects, Vol. II; (ed. G. Garab) Kluwer Academic: Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp. 785-788.

Gregor, W. and Britt, R. D. (1998) Characterization of an S1-State Specific EPR Multiline Signal of the Photosystem II Manganese Cluster. In Photosynthesis: Mechanisms and Effects, Vol. II; (ed. G. Garab) Kluwer Academic: Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp. 1299-1302.

Debus, R. J., Campbell, K. A., Pham, D. P., Hays, A.-M. A., Peloquin, J. M. and Britt, R. D. (1998) Influence of D1-Glu189 on the Properties of Yz and the Manganese Cluster in Photosystem 2. In Photosynthesis: Mechanisms and Effects, Vol. II; (ed. G. Garab) Kluwer Academic: Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp. 1375-1378.

Peloquin, J. M., Tang, X.-S., Diner, B. A., and Britt, R. D. (1999) An Electron Spin Echo Envelope Modulation (ESEEM) Study of the QA Binding Pocket of PSII Reaction Centers from Spinach and Synechocystis. Biochemistry 38, 2057-2067.

Campbell, K. A., Yikilmaz, E., Grant, C. V., Gregor, W., Miller, A. F. and Britt, R. D. (1999) Parallel Polarization EPR Characterization of the Mn(III) Center of Oxidized Manganese-Superoxide Dismutase. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 121, 4714-4715.

Morrissey, S. R., Horton, T. E., Grant, C. V., Hoogstraten C, Britt, R. D. and DeRose V. J. (1999) Mn2+ Nitrogen Interactions in RNA Probed by Electron Spin Echo Envelope Modulation Spectroscopy: Application to the Hammerhead Ribozyme. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 121, 9215-9218.

Grant, C. V., Cope, W., Ball, J. A., Maresch, G. G., Gaffney, B. J., Fink, W. H., and Britt, R. D. (1999) Electronic Structure of the Aqueous Vanadyl Ion Probed by 9 and 94 GHz EPR and Pulsed ENDOR Spectroscopies and Density Functional Theory Calculations. J. Phys. Chem., in press.

Britt, R. D., Peloquin, J. M., and Campbell, K. A. (2000) Pulsed and Parallel Polarization EPR Characterization of the Manganese Cluster of the Photosystem II Oxygen Evolving Complex. Annual Reviews of Biophysics and Biomolecular Structure, v29. in press.

Grant, C. V., Geiser-Bush, K. M., Cornman, C. R., and Britt, R. D. (1999) Probing the Molecular Geometry of Five-Coordinate Vanadyl Complexes with Pulsed ENDOR. Inorg. Chem., in press.

Britt, R. D. (1999) Oxygen Production. invited article in the Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, Macmillan Reference Limited, London. in press.

Debus, R. J., Campbell, K. A., Peloquin, J. M., Pham, D. P., and Britt, R. D. (1999) Histidine 332 of the D1 Polypeptide Modulates the Magnetic and Redox Properties of the Manganese Cluster and the Tyrosine Yz in Photosystem II. Biochemistry, in press.