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Delmar S. Larsen
Assistant Professor

Email: dlarsen@ucdavis.edu
Phone:(530) 754-9075

B.S., University of Washington, 1995.
Ph.D. University of Chicago/University of California Berkeley, 2001.
Research Associate, Free University of Amsterdam, 2001-2004.
Research Associate, University of Southern California, 2004-2005.
Appointed to faculty, UC Davis 2005.
Group Page
Principal Research Interests
The Larsen group focuses on exploring the ultrafast processes (fs to ns) of photoreceptors and other light sensitizing proteins which serve central roles in light activated biological functions. A fundamental, and yet unanswered, question for many photoreceptors is how the absorption of a photon by a small co-factor embedded within a protein is transformed into the complex response required for biological function.We explore how the surrounding protein modifies the chemistry of embedded photoreactions, including the evolving kinetics, reaction yields, thermodynamic and spectroscopic features with the aim of characterizing the hierarchy of reaction steps ranging from fastest local structural changes (femtosecond timescales) to slower long range conformational changes. This requires a multi-disciplinary research approach that incorporates tools from molecular biology, physical chemistry and computational sciences.
Representative Publications

Characterizing Excitation Dynamics in Multi-Chromophoric Aggregates One Pulse at a Time, Leonas Valkunas, Rienk van Grondelle, Delmar S. Larsen, in preparation.

Excited State Dynamics of Carotenoids in Light Harvesting Complexes: 2. Dissecting Pulse Structures obtained from Optimal Control Experiments, Emmanouil Papagiannakis, Mikas Vengris, Leonas Valkunas, Rienk van Grondelle, Delmar S. Larsen, submitted.

Excited State Dynamics of Carotenoids in Light Harvesting Complexes: 1. Exploring the Relationship between the S1 and S* States, Emmanouil Papagiannakis, Mikas Vengris, Rienk van Grondelle, Delmar S. Larsen, submitted.

Using Ultrafast Dispersed Pump-Dump-Probe and Pump-Repump Probe Spectroscopies to Explore the Light Induced Dynamics of Peridinin in Solution, Emmanouil Papagiannakis, Mikas Vengris, Delmar S. Larsen , Ivo H.M. van Stokkum, Roger G. Hiller, Rienk van Grondelle, submitted.

Mediation of Light Harvesting by a central dimer in Phycoerythrin 545 studied with Ultrafast Transient Absorption, Alexander B. Doust, Ivo H.M. van Stokkum, Delmar S. Larsen, Krystyna E. Wilk, Paul M.G. Curmi, Rienk van Grondelle, Gregory D. Scholes. Journal of Physical Chemistry B 109, 14219-14226 (2005).

Ultrafast Dynamics of Isolated Model Photoactive Yellow Protein Chromophores: "Chemical Perturbation Theory" in the Laboratory, Mikas Vengris, Delmar S. Larsen, Michael A. van der Horst, Olaf F.A. Larsen, Klass Hellingwerf, Rienk van Grondelle, Journal of Physical Chemistry A , 109, 4197-4208 (2005).

Initial Photo-induced Dynamics of the Photoactive Yellow Protein, Delmar S. Larsen and Rienk van Grondelle, ChemPhysChem 6, 828-837 (2005).

Stimulated Emission-Three Pulse Photo Echo Peakshift: A Mixed Pump-Probe and Photon-Echo Technique to Study Excited-State Dynamics, Delmar S. Larsen, Journal of Chemical Physics 121 (11), 5039-5042, (2004).

Uncovering the hidden ground state of the green fluorescent protein, John Kennis, Delmar S. Larsen, Ivo H.M. van Stokkum, Mikas Vengris, Jasper van Thor, Rienk van Grondelle, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 52, 17988-17993 (2004).

Disentangling the Excited States of Peridinin with Multi-Pulse Ultrafast Transient Absorption Spectroscopy, Emmanouil Papagiannakis, Delmar S. Larsen, Ivo H.M. van Stokkum, Mikas Vengris, Roger G. Hiller, Rienk van Grondelle, Biochemistry 43 (49), 15303-15309 (2004).

Primary Photochemistry in the Photoactive Yellow Protein: The Prototype Xanthopsin, Delmar S. Larsen, Rienk van Grondelle, Klaas J. Hellingwerf, ChemPhysChem, 6, 828-837 (2005).

Contrasting the Excited-State Dynamics of the Photoactive Yellow Protein Chromophore: Protein vs. Solvent Effects, Mikas Vengris, Michael A. van der Horst, Goran Zgrablic, Ivo H.M. van Stokkum, Stefan Haacke, Majed Chergui, Klaas J. Hellingwerf, Rienk van Grondelle, Delmar S. Larsen, Biophysical Journal 87 (3), 1848-1857 (2004).

Global and Target Analysis of Time-Resolved Spectra, Ivo H.M. van Stokkum, Delmar S. Larsen, Rienk van Grondelle, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta: Bioenergetics 1657, 82-104 (2004).

Incoherent Manipulation of the Photoactive Yellow Protein Photocyle with Dispersed Pump-Dump-Probe Spectroscopy, Delmar S. Larsen, Mikas Vengris, Ivo H.M. van Stokkum, Michael A. van der Horst, Frank L. de Weerd, Klaas J. Hellingwerf, Rienk van Grondelle, Biophysical Journal 87 (3), 1858-1872 (2004).

Ultrafast excited and ground-state dynamics of the Green Fluorescent Protein chromophore in Aqueous Solutions, Mikas Vengris, Ivo H.M. van Stokkum, Xiang He, Alasdair F. Bell, Peter J. Tonge, Rienk van Grondelle, Delmar S. Larsen, Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 108, 4587-4598 (2004). pdffano, P. Foggi, and R. Righini.297-302 (Leo S. Olschki, Rome, 2003).

Influence of Intramolecular Vibrations in Time-Domain Spectroscopies, Delmar S. Larsen, Kaoru Ohta, Mino Yang, Qinh-hua Xu, Graham R. Fleming, in: Recent Advances in Ultrafast Spectroscopy, Proceedings for the 12th Conference on Ultrafast Processes in Spectroscopy Conference, edited by S. Cali

Photoisomerization and Photoionization of the Photoactive Yellow Protein Chromophore in Solution, Delmar S. Larsen, Mikas Vengris, Ivo H.M. van Stokkum, Michael A. van der Horst, Frank L. de Weerd, Klaas J. Hellingwerf, Rienk van Grondelle Biophysical Journal, 86, 2538-2550 (2004).

Excited State Dynamics of B-Carotene Explored with Dispersed Multi-Pulse Experiments, Delmar S. Larsen, Emmanouil Papagiannakis, Ivo H.M. van Stokkum, Mikas Vengris, John T.M. Kennis, Rienk van Grondelle Chemical Physics Letters 381 (5-6), 733-742 (2003).

Initial Steps of Signal Generation in Photoactive Yellow Protein Revealed with Femtosecond Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy, Marie-Louise Groot, Luuk van Wilderen, Delmar S. Larsen, Michael A. van der Horst, Ivo H.M. van Stokkum, Klaas J. Hellingwerf, Rienk van Grondelle, Biochemistry 42, 10054-10059 (2003).

Initial Photo-induced Dynamics of the Photoactive Yellow Protein Chromophore in Solution, Delmar S. Larsen, Mikas Vengris, Ivo H.M. van Stokkum, Michael A. van der Horst, Robert A. Cordfunke, Klaas J. Hellingwerf, Rienk van Grondelle, Chemical Physics Letters 369 (5-6), 563 - 569 (2003).