Mike Reppert

Title:

Assistant Professor

PhD Granting Institution:

MIT

Contact:

Email Address: reppertm@purdue.edu
Office Phone: 765-494-2064
Lab Website Link: https://mreppert.github.io/

Primary Training Group:

Biomolecular Structure and Biophysics

Secondary Training Groups:

Computational and Systems Biology, Plant Biology

Research Areas:

Our primary research interest is to understand the "structure-spectrum" relationship in photosynthetic chlorophyll proteins. By constructing point mutants in both model proteins and in intact cyanobacterial photosystems (especially photosystem II), we are working to explore the role of electrostatic, steric, and ligation interactions in the structure-based tuning of chlorophyll properties. Simultaneously, we are using these experimental insights to build advanced simulation models and user-friendly, online software applications (see https://nanohub.org/tools/pigmenthunter) that can be used to rationally design modified chlorophyll proteins for efficient biofuel production. Finally, we are also working to develop novel approaches to using vibrational spectroscopy as a residue-specific probes of protein structure in complex, disordered systems.