Dr Roman Tuma

Research interests

1. Virus assembly - dsRNA viruses/Avian reovirus, viral factories/viroplasms

2. Mechano-chemical coupling in molecular motors that translocate along nucleic acids and polypeptides e.g. viral ATPases and SecYEG/SecA

3. Assembly of bacteriochlorophylls and structure of light harvesting antennae - chlorosomes

4. Single miolecule fluorescence and other optical spectroscopy

Roman Tuma

We apply combination of advanced biophysical and structural techniques to study self-assembly and function of large macromolecular complexes such as viruses, Sec translocon, helicases and light harvesting complexes. Key biological processes that are studied in our group: RNA packaging and segment assortment in dsRNA viruses of the Reoviridae family; mechanism and dynamics of hexameric helicases and SecA driven polypeptide translocation across membranes. We also use self-assembly of bacterial photosynthetic pigments to create hybrid quantum dot nanostructures for applications in synthetic biology and nanophotonics.

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://biologicalsciences.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

  • Ph.D. 1996
  • M.Sc. 1990

Professional memberships

  • Microbiology Society
  • British Biophysical Society
  • Biochemical Society
  • RNA Society

Student education