Descrizione del progetto
Organismi illuminati potrebbero mostrarci come produrre nuovi cristalli rivoluzionari
Negli ultimi anni, i cristalli organici molecolari sono diventati oggetto di intensa ricerca teorica e sperimentale, al fine di sfruttarne le straordinarie proprietà ottiche, elettroniche e meccaniche per le applicazioni tecnologiche. La biocristallizzazione organica, in cui i cristalli sono formati dagli organismi viventi a partire da macromolecole organiche, potrebbero aprire una finestra sui percorsi valorizzabili. Molti organismi esercitano un controllo eccellente sulla formazione di cristalli per manipolare la luce in modi rivoluzionari. Il progetto CRYSTALEYES, finanziato dall’UE, segue il processo di biocristallizzazione in un sistema modello, utilizzando tecniche avanzate per identificare le molecole che controllano la cristallizzazione e i geni che le codificano. Scoprire la ricetta vincente potrebbe portare alla creazione di fabbriche viventi che producono cristalli organici su misura, per una nuova era di applicazioni ottiche.
Obiettivo
Many spectacular optical phenomena in nature are produced by the interaction of light with organic crystals. Organisms exert exquisite control over the habit and organization of these crystals to determine the type of optical effect produced by using strategies beyond the state of the art in solid state chemistry. Despite their important role in animal behavior and their huge potential to inspire new optical materials, little is known about these materials. However, recent discoveries of previously unknown organic bio-crystals indicate that many more of these materials will be found and that ‘organic bio-crystallization’ is an emergent field with important implications for materials science. My overall objective is to uncover the strategies organisms use to control the formation of organic crystals, enabling these strategies to be harnessed to develop new crystalline organic materials. A pioneering approach is proposed which entails following the crystallization pathways of organic molecules in model photonic systems undergoing development. The crystallization of guanine and isoxanthopterin will be investigated to reveal the physio-chemical and biological processes underpinning crystallization. Cryogenic electron microscopy, spectroscopy and in situ diffraction methods will determine changes in the chemical and physical properties of the crystals during crystallization. Proteomic and transcriptomic studies will identify the macromolecules responsible for controlling nucleation and growth and the genes encoding them. These bio-crystallization processes will then be artificially mimicked and manipulated to produce guanine and isoxanthopterin crystals with rationally designed crystal properties (crystal habit, composition, size), including an ambitious attempt to genetically programme guanine-producing iridophore cells as living factories to produce crystals with controlled phenotypes, laying the foundations for a new field of genetically programmed organic materials.
Campo scientifico
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-STG - Starting GrantIstituzione ospitante
84105 Beer Sheva
Israele