Melih K. Sener
Coming from a theoretical physics and mathematics background,
my current research interests include efficient energy transfer
in photosynthetic systems, assembly and architecture of
multi-protein complexes and organelles, allosteric transitions
in G protein-coupled receptors.
I have also been regularly involved in outreach activities
to bring science to broad audiences.
Ph. D. in Physics State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Title:
Universality in Random Matrix Models of Quantum Chromodynamics.
Research at a Glance
The sun is not only the author of visibility in all visible things, but of generation and nourishment and growth.
- Plato (quoted by Govindjee )
Photosynthetic chromatophore vesicles found in purple bacteria are essentially biological solar cells built from light-harvesting proteins. Shown are approximately two hundred proteins assembled in silico by combining AFM, NMR, EM, crystallography, and spectroscopy data containing 4000 chlorophylls ( more information).
A colloquial discussion of some of my earlier research can be found at:
Organization of
energy transfer networks in photosynthesis.
Tale of two photosystems.
My research as featured in previous highlights
'Life's Solar Battery'
A (pseudo-)organelle made of light-harvesting proteins is constructed
combinining AFM, NMR, EM, crystallography, and spectroscopy data
as atomic detail model, revealing how efficient energy harvesting is
achieved through a quantum mechanical process across a 70~nm vesicle
containing up to four thousand chlorophylls.
This vesicle model was built mainly using
Mathematica and was featured in Wolfram's
Portraits of Success site.
'Evolution Shaped by Physics'
How biological networks evolve and how physical constraints that act upon
their dynamics shape this evolution is poorly understood.
A glimpse of insight can be gained by a comparison
of energy transfer networks from related species as presented in this
'Tale of Two Photosystems'.
'Finding the Path'
A novel method is presented for finding representative reaction paths
for biological processes based on mean first passage times.
'Unbreakable Biological Solar Cell'
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" By observing the network topology
of excitation migration pathways in a massive light harvesting assembly
and comparing it to alternative configurations we uncovered signs of
robustness and optimality in chlorophyll network architecture.
'Exciting Biology and Hot Physics Meet'
Thermal disorder is an ever-present challenge for all organisms - and the
scientists who model them. Quantum field theory tools come to the rescue
of modelling thermal effects in electronically
excited bioenergetic systems.
'Bringing Physics To Life'
This brochure of our group's collective work also features some of my research highlights.
Photosystem I: one of the two major protein-pigment
complexes utilized by oxygenic photosynthetic species for harvesting sunlight
(
more information).
Publications
-
Structural model and excitonic properties of the
dimeric RC-LH1-PufX complex from Rhodobacter sphaeroides.
Melih K. Sener, Jen Hsin, Leonardo G. Trabuco, Elizabeth Villa,
Pu Qian, C. Neil Hunter, and Klaus Schulten.
Chemical Physics, 357:188-197, 2009.
From atomic-level structure to supramolecular organization in the
photosynthetic unit of purple bacteria.
Melih K. Sener and Klaus Schulten.
In C. Neil Hunter, Fevzi Daldal, Marion C. Thurnauer, and J. Thomas Beatty,
editors, The Purple Phototrophic Bacteria,
volume 28 of Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration,
pp. 275-294. Springer, 2008.
Atomic level structural and functional model of a
bacterial photosynthetic membrane vesicle.
Melih K. Sener, John D. Olsen, C. Neil Hunter, and Klaus Schulten.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
USA, 104:15723-15728, 2007.
Comparison of the light harvesting networks of plant and cyanobacterial photosystem I.
Melih K. Sener, Craig Jolley, Adam Ben-Shem, Petra Fromme,
Nathan Nelson, Roberta Croce, and Klaus Schulten.
Biophysical Journal, 89:1630-1642, 2005.
Physical principles of efficient excitation transfer in light harvesting.
Melih Sener and Klaus Schulten.
In David L. Andrews, editor, Energy Harvesting Materials, pp. 1-26.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2005.
Excitation migration in trimeric cyanobacterial photosystem I.
Melih K. Sener, Sanghyun Park, Deyu Lu, Ana Damjanovic, Thorsten Ritz,
Petra Fromme, and Klaus Schulten.
Journal of Chemical Physics, 120:11183-11195, 2004.
Reaction paths based on mean first-passage times.
Sanghyun Park, Melih K. Sener, Deyu Lu,
and Klaus Schulten. Journal of Chemical Physics, 119:1313-1319, 2003.
Robustness and optimality of light harvesting in cyanobacterial
photosystem I.
Melih K. Sener, Deyu Lu, Thorsten Ritz, Sanghyun Park, Petra Fromme, and Klaus Schulten.
Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 106:7948-7960, 2002.
A general random matrix approach to account for the effect of static disorder
on the spectral properties of light harvesting systems.
Melih Sener and Klaus Schulten. Physical Review E, 65:031916, 2002. (12 pages).
Universality in Random Matrix Models of
Quantum Chromodynamics. Ph.D. Thesis.
Melih K. Sener, Stony Brook, August 1999.
Universality in Chiral Random Matrix Theory at beta =1 and beta =4.
Melih K. Sener and Jacobus J. M. Verbaarschot.
Physical Review Letters, 81:248-251,1998.
Universality of Correlation Functions in Random Matrix Models of QCD.
Andrew D. Jackson, Melih K. Sener, and Jacobus J.M. Verbaarschot.
Nuclear Physics B, 506:612-632,1997.
Finite volume partition functions and Itzykson-Zuber integrals.
Andrew D. Jackson, Melih K. Sener, and Jacobus J. M. Verbaarschot
Physics Letters B, 387:355-360,1996.
Universality near zero virtuality.
Andrew D. Jackson, Melih K. Sener, and Jacobus J. M. Verbaarschot
Nuclear Physics B, 479:707-726,1996.
Contact information
address: Beckman Institute, 405 N. Mathews, Urbana, IL 61801.tel: 217-244 1612 fax: 217-244 6078
email: (my first name) at ks.uiuc.edu
Personal snippets
Of Bread, Words, and Motion.
Musings on dance and poetry, mostly.
The Writer's Almanac.
Has many a hidden gem in the way of poems and
biographical tidbits.
'... the colors and the lines that trace the past
will in the semi-darkness form a face ...'
If I were to pick only one poem for the end of time...
footer