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CURRICULUM VITAE

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ANTONY RICHARD CROFTS

Date of birth: January 26th, 1940

Nationality: British; Permanent Resident, USA

Academic Progress:

1958 Entered Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge,England.

1958-61 Natural Sciences Tripos Parts I and II, Honours Class2:1 in Biochemistry.

1961 Expedition Physiologist, Cambridge Arctic Canada Expedition.

1961-64 MRC Research Assistantship in Dept. of Biochemistry, U.of Cambridge.

1964-65 Temporary Assistant Lecturer in Biochemistry at Universityof Bristol.

1965 Dissertation for the Ph.D. degree accepted at the Universityof Cambridge.

1965-66 Visiting Research Physiologist at the University of California,Berkeley.

1966-74 Lecturer in Biochemistry at the University of Bristol.

1974-77 Reader in Biochemistry at the University of Bristol.

1978-92 Professor of Biophysics, Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics,U. of Illinois at Urbana.

1978-91 Chairman of Biophysics Division, University of Illinoisat Urbana-Champaign.

1983 Professeur au College de France (Visiting), May-June.

1989- Professor, Beckman Institute, University of Illinois

1992- Professor of Biophysics, Dept. of Microbiology, U. of Illinoisat Urbana-Champaign

1992- Professor of Microbiology, Dept. of Microbiology, U. ofIllinois at Urbana-Champaign

1995 Acting-Chair, Program in Biophysics and Computational Biology,UIUC

1996-98 Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, UIUC

1998- Professor of Biochemistry, Department of Biochemistry, U. of Illinoisat Urbana-Champaign

Honors

1957 State Scholarship.

1958-61 Major Scholar in Natural Science, Gonville and Caius College,U. of Cambridge.

1961 Medical Research Council Research Studentship.

1974 Reader in Biochemistry, University of Bristol.

1982 Melandri Lecture and Medal, 2nd. EBEC Meeting, Lyon.

1983 Francis I Medal, College de France

1985 John Simon Guggenheim Fellow.

1989-92 University Senior Scholar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

1991 Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science

1992 C.F. Kettering Award and Prize, American Society for PlantPhysiology.

2004 Lars Ernster Memorial Lecture, Stockholm

Summary of Current Research Interests

Structure/function relationships in photosynthetic energy conversion; structure of membrane proteins; fluxes of energy and information in the biosphere; photosynthesis in intact plants

Our work is based on the complementarity between biophysical, structural and molecular engineering approaches to the study of biological mechanism. Molecular engineering protocols have provided tools for modification of protein structure, but their utility is greatly increased by combining them with other approaches. Most importantly, knowledge of the structure of the target protein, and the ability to assay the functional consequences of specific mutagenesis, make it possible to explore the mechanism of catalysis at the molecular level.

• Ubiquinol:cytochrome c₂ oxidoreductase (bc₁ complex) of Rb. sphaeroides. As crystallographic structures become available, we are able to take advantage of spectroscopic techniques and protocols for protein engineering using PCR-cassette mutagenesis, that allow us to modify the three catalytic subunits, and answer specific questions about the structure, function and topology of the complex. These studies have revealed a novel mechanism of electron transfer in the bc₁ complex, involving a dramatic domain movement of the head of the iron sulfur protein, and movement of quinone intermediates at the catalytic site; we are currently studying these using a variety of biophysical, spectroscopic, biochemical and molecular engineering approaches, with local, national and international collaborative projects.
• In photosystem II, our present work centers on the function and structure of the two-electron gate through which the photosystem reduces the plastoquinone pool, and on the mechanism of oxygen evolution. The structural models for the photosystem now available have reopened interest, and the biophysical assays for the reactions, and PCR-based techniques for analysis and sequence modification in the D1 subunit of photosystem II in Chlamydomonas have allowed a a more detailed look at molecular mechanism.
• A more recent interest is in the role of informational fluxes in the biosphere. Attempts to incorporate these into the normal energetic fluxes has shown that one component, the semantic content, is not ammenable to standard thermodynamic description. This insubstantiality raises many interesting questions in relation to the mechanism of evolution, the nature of consciousness, and many aspects of philosophy centered on the "duality" question.

Other past interests include biophysical aspects of electron transfer and the coupling to ATP synthesis through the proton gradient, studies of the control of photosynthetic electron transfer in the coupled steady-state; the supramolecular organization of electron transfer chains; the mechanism and evolution of the cyt bc₁/b₆f family of complexes in plants and bacteria; the mechanism of action of inhibitors (including herbicides); and the role of  thioredoxin in activation and control of chloroplast ATP-ase and other enzymes, and the control and modulation of photosynthesis in intact plants in the laboratory and under field conditions. We have developed novel instruments that allow us to explore individual reactions of the photosynthetic apparatus in intact plants. We are using these in the lab and in the field to try to understand how photosynthesis is regulated under natural conditions, including studies of the mechanisms of down regulation in strong light, photoinhibition, and response to environmental stress.

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Publications

Teaching

Editorial, Service, Meetings, Support

Research Contributions

Collaborations Past and Present

Cambridge Arctic Canada Expedition.