Eduardus Duin, PhD

Professor

Chemistry and Biochemistry

(334) 884 6072
duinedu@auburn.edu
376 Chemistry Building
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Eduardus (Evert) C. Duin did his undergraduate work at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands and graduated in 1991. He studied the reaction mechanism of cytochrome C oxidase under guidance of Ron Wever. He joined the group of Siem Albracht to study the function and properties of different hydrogenases and received his PhD in 1996. From 1996 until 1999, he worked as a postdoc at the University of Georgia, USA, in the group of Mike Johnson where he studied several iron-sulfur-cluster containing enzymes applying a whole set of different spectroscopic techniques. From 2000 until 2002 he received Humboldt and MPI fellowships to work at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Germany, in the group of Rolf Thauer. Here he started working on the enzymes essential for biological methane production. He came to Auburn in 2002 and continued working on this topic. He further studies the MEP pathway for isoprene synthesis which is a new target for drug development. He was promoted to associate professor in 2009, and full professor in 2017.

Education

PhD University of Amsterdam 1996

Professional Experience

My undergraduate work was done at the University of Amsterdam. There is where I got my first exposure to the field of metalloenzymes, working on cytochrome c oxidase in the group of Dr. Ron Wever. Subsequently, Dr. Siem Albracht invited me to join his group as a PhD student. The research focused on hydrogenase enzymes, which catalyze the reversible transformation of molecular hydrogen and protons. I received training in Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and collaborated with other groups for the use of Electron Nuclear Double Resonance (ENDOR) and Mössbauer spectroscopies. From there I jumped across the ocean to work as a postdoctoral associate in the lab of Dr. Mike Johnson at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA. The Johnson group had a large service component. In the Johnson lab we applied electronic absorption, EPR, resonance Raman, and magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopies to a large selection of metalloenzymes sent to us by collaborators. I worked, for example, with Drs. Rhonda Ellen and Dennis Flint at Dupont on the characterization of biotin synthases. Dupont was hoping to use this enzyme to circumvent the difficult synthetic steps needed to make biotin. Having that many enzymes to work with was a great experience but it also taught me that these collaboration do not last and you need to maintain a couple of your own projects. In accordance, I accepted an invitation by Dr. Rolf Thauer to work at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, Germany. I was hired to run both the new EPR facility as well as being the lead PI on the characterization of an enzyme involved in microbial methane production. I started on a prestigious Humboldt fellowship which was extended as an MPI fellow due to our success. At the MPI, I started to work on two projects that I was able to develop in independent work and have continued here at Auburn University where I have now 20+ years.

Innovation

The first project is on the characterization and application of enzymes important for biological methane production in methanogens and methane oxidation in anaerobic methane oxidizers. The second project is on the enzymes in the alternative pathway for isoprene synthesis. These are targets for drug developments. In my group we cover a wide area of topics: genetics, microbiology, enzymology, kinetics, biophysics, and bioinorganic spectroscopy. Being the owner of an EPR spectrometer our group also does a lot of service research where we study metalloenzymes from different groups in the field. The outcome of the work includes contributions to both a fundamental understanding of the function of metalloenzymes, and practical applications in medicine (anti-infective drugs) and in agricultural (pesticides and inhibitors for methane formation in ruminal animals).