Ron S. Hutchison
Department of Biology
North Dakota State University
Fargo, North Dakota 58105-5517
tel: (701)231-7224
fax: (701)231-7149
Office: Stevens 324
ron.hutchison@ndsu.nodak.edu

Visit my lab's webpage.

B.A. Biology, Kenyon College, 1987
M.A. Plant Biology, Univ. of Illinois, 1988
Ph.D. Plant Biology, Univ. of Illinois, 1994

Photosystem II is a multisubunit protein complex, present in plants, algae and bacteria, that uses energy from light to produce oxygen and protons from water.  Using a combination of biochemical and molecular genetic techniques, we are attempting to understand the process of oxygen production.  We are focusing our attention on a protein, called the Manganese Stabilizing Protein (MSP), that 1) exist very near bound manganese ions comprising the site of water oxidation, and 2) is necessary for high rates of oxygen production.  The methods that we use to study these proteins include protein purification, column chromatography, algal transformation, and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR).

Hutchison, R.S., Groom, Q., and Ort, D.R. (2000) Differential effects of chilling-induced photooxidation on the redox reguation of photosynthetic enzymes. Biochemistry p. xx-xx.

Hutchison, R.S., Steenhuis, J.J., Yocum, C.F., Razeghifard M.R., and Barry. B.A. (1999) Deprotonation of the 33 kDa, extrinsic, manganese-stabilizing subunit accompanies photooxidation of manganese in photosystem II. J. Biol. Chem. 274 31987-31995.

Razeghifard, M.R., Kim, S., Patzlaff, J.S., Hutchison, R.S., Krick, T., Ayala, I., Steenhuis, J.J., Boesch, S.E., Wheeler, R.A., and Barry, B.A. (1999) In vivo, in vitro, and calculated vibrational spectra of plastoquinone and the plastosemiquinone anion radical. J. Phys. Chem. B 103 (44) p. 9790-9800.

Lydakis-Simantiris, N., Hutchison, R.S., Betts, S.D., Barry, B.A., and Yocum C.F. (1999) "Bacterial overexpression and site-directed mutagenesis of the PSII manganese stabilizing protein: progress in elucidation of structure and function" in Photosynthesis: Mechanisms and Effects (Garab, G. ed.) Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht p. 1253-1258.

Steenhuis, J.J., Hutchison, R.S., and Barry, B.A. (1999) Alterations in carboxylate ligation at the active site of photosystem II. J. Biol. Chem. 274 p. 14609-14616.

Ruffle, S., Hutchinson, R., and Sayre R. (1999) Mutagenesis of the photosystem II D2-H117 residue in Chlamydomonas: Implications for peripheral accessory chlorophyll function. (submitted to Biochemistry).

Lydakis-Simantiris, N., Hutchison, R.S., Betts, S.D., Barry, B.A., and Yocum, C.F. (1998) Manganese stabilizing protein of photosystem II is a thermostabile, natively unfolded polypeptide. Biochemistry 38. (1) p. 404-414.

Hutchison, R.S., Betts, S.D., Yocum, C.F., and Barry, B.A. (1998) Conformational changes in the extrinsic manganese-stabilizing protein upon binding to the photosystem II reaction center: an isotope editing and FT-IR study. Biochemistry 37 (16) p. 5643-5653.

Ruffle, S., Hutchison, R., and Sayre, R.T. (1998) Mutagenesis of the symmetry related H117 residue in the photosystem II protein of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii : implications for energy transfer from accessory chlorophylls. Proceedings of the XI International Congress on Photosynthesis, Kluwer Academic Pub. The Netherlands. p.1013-1016.

Xiong, J., Hutchison, R., Sayre, R.T., and Govindjee (1997) Modification of the photosystem II acceptor side function in a D1 mutant (arginine-269-glycine) of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1322 (1) p. 60-76.

Hutchison, R., Roffey, R.A., and Sayre, R.T. (1996) Chloroplast transformation. in: Frontiers in Molecular Biology, Molecular Genetics of Photosynthesis, J. Barber, B. Andersson and A. Hugh Salter eds., Oxford University Press, p. 180-196.

Hutchison, R., Xiong, J., Sayre, R.T., and Govindjee (1996) Construction and characterization of a photosystem II D1 mutant (arginine-269-glycine) of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Biochimica Biophysica Acta 1277 (1-2) p. 83-92.

Hutchison, R., Xiong J., Sayre, R.T., and Govindjee (1995) Site-directed mutagenesis of a putative bicarbonate binding site arginine 269 of the D1 protein in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. In: Photosynthesis: from Light to Biosphere. Ed. P. Mathis. Kluwer Academic Pub. The Netherlands. Vol. I p. 575-578.

Hutchison, R.S. and Sayre, R.T. (1995) Site-specific mutagenesis at histidine 118 of the photosystem II D1 protein of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. In: Photosynthesis: from Light to Biosphere. Ed. P. Mathis. Kluwer Academic Pub. The Netherlands. Vol. I p. 471-474.

Hutchison, R. and Ort, D.R. (1995) Measurement of equilibrium midpoint potentials of thio/disulfied regulatory groups of thioredoxin activated enzymes. Methods in Enzymology 252, p. 220-228.

Biological Methods
Photobiology
Biological Principles

2000 Paul D. Boyer Award, Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics., U of MN.

1997 Plant molecular genetics institute post-doctoral fellowship., U of MN.

1988-1992 McKnight Foundation graduate fellowship for interdisciplinary study in photosynthesis., U of IL.

1988-1990 NIH cellular and molecular biology training grant fellowship., U of IL.

1987 M.E. Power prize in biology., Kenyon College.