The Avron-Wilstätter Minerva Center for Research in Photosynthesis

Avigdor Scherz, Director The Robert and Yadelle Sklare Professor in Biochemistry
The Minerva Foundation, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJ) and the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) established the Avron-Minerva center for Photosynthesis in 1995. The center was outset to promote research in the chemical, physical, technological and regulatory aspects of photosynthesis from the molecular to the global level. Importantly, the Minerva foundation has aided the global need for crops suitable to arid areas by establishing a high profile research in Israel in both at the fundamental and technological aspects of plant growth. To fulfil these goals the Minerva foundation has provided a generous gift for a new center in the HUJ, whose research aims include photosynthesis regulation. The new center was merged with the older, Wilstätter-Minerva center that was established earlier, in WIS, and originally aimed at understanding of solar energy conversion in photosynthesis.

The recent genomic revolution combined with the development of bio-informatics and proteomics, have opened a new frontier in the research of photosynthesis. It is possible now to integrate data from the genotype to the phenotype levels utilizing a multi-disciplinary array of methodologies that deal with a broad range of questions in order to understand the molecular foundation of the photosynthetic machinery as a whole, the clockwork of membrane and globular protein formation, assembly and communication and the related adaptation of the photosynthetic organism to the eco-system. Moreover, products and principle components of the photosynthetic machinery are now used for medicine (like in photodynamic therapy of cancer) and nutrition (carotenoids).

Such progress requires the establishment of research arena which enables integrative application of different disciplines to molecular, cellular and multi-cellular systems.

The activities of the Avron-Minerva center planed for coming years should implement and exploit these new developments. Thus, three major research lines have been selected: (1) photosynthetic protein complexes: Bio-synthesis, assembly into functional units, and cellular organization into supra-structures; (2) acclimation of photosynthetic organisms to environmental stress: (3) development of novel technologies such as photodynamic therapy of different diseases using chlorophylls or bacteriochlorophyll and light, and production of carotenoids derivatives. The principles discovered here are applied to other research fields as well.

Following this rational, the center provides seed money for multidisciplinary research programs (1-3 years), international meetings and exchanges of German and Center's members. On the Israeli side, travel support is mainly provided to students and post-doc fellows. Research funds are limited to members of the center. Four new members have recently joined the center.