World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Biology and Biochemistry

D-Index
50
Citations
9607
World Ranking
17591
National Ranking
7216

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2009 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Overview

Richard J. Debus is affiliated with the University of California, Riverside in the United States. Their research primarily focuses on biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology, with detailed work spanning molecular biology, atomic and molecular physics and optics, cellular and molecular neuroscience, plant science, and renewable energy, sustainability, and the environment.

The main topics of their work include photosynthetic processes and mechanisms, spectroscopy and quantum chemical studies, photoreceptor and optogenetics research, mitochondrial function and pathology, ATP synthase and ATPases research, metalloenzymes and iron-sulfur proteins, and metal-catalyzed oxygenation mechanisms.

Richard J. Debus has published extensively in a range of scientific journals. Frequent venues include:

  • Journal of Biological Chemistry
  • Biochemistry
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Photosynthesis Research
  • Joule

Recent papers illustrate a focus on photosystem II, structural biology, and spectroscopic characterization. These papers include:

  • High-resolution cryo-electron microscopy structure of photosystem II from the mesophilic cyanobacterium, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 (2021), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Structure of a monomeric photosystem II core complex from a cyanobacterium acclimated to far-red light reveals the functions of chlorophylls d and f (2021), Journal of Biological Chemistry
  • Cryo-EM Structure of Monomeric Photosystem II from Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 Lacking the Water-Oxidation Complex (2020), Joule
  • The exchange of the fast substrate water in the S2 state of photosystem II is limited by diffusion of bulk water through channels - implications for the water oxidation mechanism (2021), Chemical Science
  • Pulse EPR Spectroscopic Characterization of the S3 State of the Oxygen-Evolving Complex of Photosystem II Isolated from Synechocystis (2020), Biochemistry

Their frequent co-authors reflect ongoing collaborations, featuring:

  • Gary W. Brudvig
  • David A. Flesher
  • Christopher J. Gisriel
  • Jimin Wang
  • Víctor S. Batista

Richard J. Debus was recognized as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2009.

Best Publications

  • The manganese and calcium ions of photosynthetic oxygen evolution.

    Richard J. Debus

  • Site-directed mutagenesis identifies a tyrosine radical involved in the photosynthetic oxygen-evolving system

    Richard J. Debus;Bridgette A. Barry;Gerald T. Babcock;Lee McIntosh

  • Directed mutagenesis indicates that the donor to P 680+ in photosystem II is tyrosine-161 of the D1 polypeptide

    R. J. Debus;B. A. Barry;I. Sithole;Gerald T. Babcock

  • Water oxidation in photosystem II: from radical chemistry to multielectron chemistry.

    Gerald T. Babcock;B. A. Barry;R. J. Debus;C. W. Hoganson

  • Amino acid residues that influence the binding of manganese or calcium to photosystem II. 1. The lumenal interhelical domains of the D1 polypeptide.

    Hsiu-An Chu;Anh P. Nguyen;Richard J. Debus

  • Amino acid residues that modulate the properties of tyrosine YZ and the manganese cluster in the water oxidizing complex of photosystem II

    Richard J Debus

  • Role of D1-His190 in proton-coupled electron transfer reactions in photosystem II: a chemical complementation study.

    Anna Maria A. Hays;Ilya R. Vassiliev;John H. Golbeck;Richard J. Debus

  • Protein Ligation of the Photosynthetic Oxygen-Evolving Center

    Richard J. Debus

  • Evidence that the C-terminus of the D1 polypeptide of photosystem II is ligated to the manganese ion that undergoes oxidation during the S1 to S2 transition: an isotope-edited FTIR study.

    Hsiu-An Chu;Warwick Hillier;Richard J. Debus

  • Role of D1-His190 in the proton-coupled oxidation of tyrosine YZ in manganese-depleted photosystem II.

    Anna Maria A. Hays;Ilya R. Vassiliev;John H. Golbeck;Richard J. Debus

  • Construction of an Obligate Photoheterotrophic Mutant of the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis 6803 Inactivation of the psbA Gene Family

    Christer Jansson;Richard J. Debus;Heinz D. Osiewacz;Michael Gurevitz

  • Amino acid residues that influence the binding of manganese or calcium to photosystem II. 2. The carboxy-terminal domain of the D1 polypeptide.

    Hsiu-An Chu;Anh P. Nguyen;Richard J. Debus

  • Site-directed photosystem II mutants with perturbed oxygen-evolving properties. 1. Instability or inefficient assembly of the manganese cluster in vivo.

    Hsiu-An Chu;Anh P. Nguyen;Richard J. Debus

  • FTIR studies of metal ligands, networks of hydrogen bonds, and water molecules near the active site Mn4CaO5 cluster in Photosystem II

    Richard J. Debus

  • Rapid formation of the stable tyrosyl radical in photosystem II

    Peter Faller;Richard J. Debus;Klaus Brettel;Miwa Sugiura

  • No evidence from FTIR difference spectroscopy that glutamate-189 of the D1 polypeptide ligates a Mn ion that undergoes oxidation during the S0 to S1, S1 to S2, or S2 to S3 transitions in photosystem II.

    Melodie A Strickler;Warwick Hillier;Richard John Debus

  • Evidence from FTIR difference spectroscopy that D1-Asp61 influences the water reactions of the oxygen-evolving Mn4CaO5 cluster of photosystem II.

    Richard J. Debus

  • Evidence from biosynthetically incorporated strontium and FTIR difference spectroscopy that the C-terminus of the D1 polypeptide of photosystem II does not ligate calcium.

    Melodie A Strickler;Lee M Walker;Warwick Hillier;Richard John Debus

  • Evidence from FTIR Difference Spectroscopy of an Extensive Network of Hydrogen Bonds near the Oxygen-Evolving Mn4Ca Cluster of Photosystem II Involving D1-Glu65, D2-Glu312, and D1-Glu329

    Warwick Hillier;Richard John Debus

  • Evidence from directed mutagenesis that aspartate 170 of the D1 polypeptide influences the assembly and/or stability of the manganese cluster in the photosynthetic water-splitting complex.

    Renee J. Boerner;Anh P. Nguyen;Bridgette A. Barry;Richard J. Debus

Frequent Co-Authors

Gary W. Brudvig
Gary W. Brudvig Yale University
R. David Britt
R. David Britt University of California, Davis
Wolfgang Junge
Wolfgang Junge Osnabrück University
Junko Yano
Junko Yano Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Johannes Messinger
Johannes Messinger Umeå University
Victor S. Batista
Victor S. Batista Yale University
Lee McIntosh
Lee McIntosh Michigan State University
John H. Golbeck
John H. Golbeck Pennsylvania State University
Gerald T. Babcock
Gerald T. Babcock Michigan State University
Peter Faller
Peter Faller University of Strasbourg

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