Chemistry Colloquium: Josh Vermaas

The Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to welcome Josh Vermaas, an assistant professor at Michigan State University.

Title: Resolving Biological Transport Processes at the Molecular Scale Through the Computational Microscope

Abstract: Molecular simulation offers both high spatial and temporal resolution to visualize and interrogate biological processes. While the lens of the computational microscope can be turned to many processes, transport processes have been a fundamental area of investigation within the Vermaas lab to understand processes essential microbial metabolic processes with an eye towards engineering metabolism for specific targets. In this presentation, we develop parallel stories that tell the story of energy or matter transport across biology. The first story emphasizes energy transfer in photosynthetic organisms, carrying excitations from point to point from energy capture proteins to the photosystems. Atoms and molecules also cross between biological compartments, and their permeability dictates catalysis kinetics. We explore this through catalysis within bacterial microcompartments, both anabolic reactions such as what happens within carboxysomes in photosynthesis, as well as metabolosomes that handle reactions with potentially damaging intermediates. Through molecular simulation, we are tracking specific transit events to unlock what limits reactant and product mobility across these nanoscale barriers.