报告题目: Phyllobilins from Breakdown of Chlorophyll - Of trees of Gold and Blue Bananas
报告时间: 2019-06-24 10:00 am
报告地点: 实验三楼102 会议室
报告人: Prof. Dr. Bernhard Kräutler (University of Innsbruck, 奥地利)
Fall colors have always been fascinating and are still a remarkably puzzling phenomenon associated with the breakdown of chlorophyll (Chl) in leaves. As discovered in recent years, nongreen bilin‐type Chl catabolites are generated, which are known as the phyllobilins. Collaborative chemical‐biological efforts have led to the elucidation of the key Chl‐breakdown processes in senescent leaves and in ripening fruit. Colorless and largely photoinactive phyllobilins are rapidly produced from Chl, apparently primarily as part of a detoxification program. However, fluorescent Chl catabolites accumulate in some senescent leaves and in peels of ripe bananas and induce a striking blue glow. The structural features, chemical properties, and abundance of the phyllobilins in the biosphere suggest biological roles, which still remain to be elucidated.
Brief CV of Prof. Dr. Bernhard Kräutler:
Bernhard Kräutler studied chemistry at the ETH in Zürich, where he received his PhD in 1976 working with Prof. Albert Eschenmoser. After postdoctoral studies with Prof. Allen J. Bard (University of Texas, Austin) and Prof. Nicholas J. Turro (Columbia University, New York), he returned to the ETH to start his own research group. In 1991 he became Full Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Innsbruck, and since October 2015 has been Professor Emeritus. His research interests concern the ‘Pigments of Life’, such as heme, chlorophyll and vitamin B12: their discovery, their chemical and biological synthesis, their biologically important structure and chemical reactivity, as well as their biological functions, based on which, applications in the life sciences and in medicine are investigated. He obtains many awards e.g. Werner Award of Swiss Chemical Society (1987), Schroedinger Award of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (2001), Joseph-Loschmidt Medal, Austrian Chemical Society (2005). In addition, he is Member German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (2006), Member Austrian Academy of Sciences (2009).