【报告人Speaker】：Dr. Matthew AB Baker, University of New South Wales
【摘要Abstract】：细菌鞭毛马达（BFM）是一种极其迷人的分子复合体，也是经典的旋转纳米机器。这种马达让我们深刻理解了生物如何利用物理原理，在接近热力学极限的尺度上操作纳米机器。随着光镊技术的发展，BFM 被用于在纳米尺度施加和测量皮牛顿级力，以研究扭矩与转速之间的关系，以及离子流转化为机械功的过程是如何在数十亿年的进化中被优化的。
BFM 直径约为 40 纳米，可旋转频率高达 1000 Hz，能在膜上自组装，并在毫秒级时间内改变旋转方向。这一旋转由定子（stator）复合体提供动力，近期的结构研究提示，定子本身可能也是一个更小型的旋转纳米机器。Matthew的生物物理学研究起步于测量光学陷阱中简单微球的波动，当他第一次把冷冻保存的细菌拿出来，并在一天结束时放回去时，他便爱上了微生物学。他现在将统计系统发育学与结构和序列同源性结合，设计并验证用于驱动运动性的工程蛋白。总体而言，我们希望通过研究蛋白质的进化历史，并调查所有已知的鞭毛马达，理解扭矩产生的起源，并绘制生命树上运动能力的获得与丧失图谱。
The bacterial flagellar motor (BFM) is a fascinating molecular complex and the canonical rotary nanomachine. This motor has taught us a lot about how biology makes use of physics to utilise nanomachines close to the thermal limit. Alongside the advent of optical tweezers, the BFM has been used to apply and measure picoNewton forces across nanometres to understand the relationship between torque and speed and how the conversion of ion flow into mechanical work has been optimised over billions of years.
The BFM is ~40 nm in diameter, capable of rotating at 1000 Hz, self-assembles in the membrane and changes rotational direction in milliseconds. This rotation is powered by the stator complex, with recent structures hinting that these are themselves an even tinier rotating nanomachine. Matt's foray into biophysics started with measuring fluctuations of simple beads in optical traps, and then when he first got to take bacteria out of the freezer and put them back at the end of the day, he fell in love with microbiology. He now combines statistical phylogenetics with structural and sequence homology to design and test engineered proteins to power motility [1]. Overall, we want to understand the origin of torque generation by looking at protein histories[2] and surveying all known flagellar motors to map the gain and loss of motility across the tree of life [3].
References:
[1] Ridone, P. and Baker, M.A.B. Journal of Bacteriology (2025)
[2] Puente-Lelievre, … Baker, Matzke, mBio (2025)
[3]Philip, … Baker, ISME Journal (2025)
【报告人简介Speaker Biography】：
Matthew AB Baker 博士在澳大利亚国立大学获得化学荣誉学士学位后，作为 John Monash 奖学金获得者赴英国牛津大学攻读物理学博士学位，研究驱动多种细菌游动的分子马达机制，并在牛津大学生物化学系完成了关于蛋白质转运的博士后研究。随后，他回到澳大利亚，在悉尼 Victor Chang 心脏研究所从事结构生物学研究工作。现任新南威尔士大学（UNSW Sydney）生物技术与生物分子科学学院副教授。Matthew 博士的研究聚焦于生物物理与生物分子机制，致力于从分子尺度解析简单亚基相互作用如何驱动复杂生物结构的组装及其功能调控。他以细菌鞭毛马达为代表体系，系统研究了转子（Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 2016）与鞭毛丝（eLife, 2017）的装配机制，揭示了亚基相互作用在复杂分子机器构建中的关键作用。
Matthew博士曾任澳大利亚生物物理学会主席，现担任国际纯粹与应用生物物理学联合会（IUPAB）理事以及亚洲生物物理学会协会（ABA）的澳大利亚代表，并将于2026 年起担任新南威尔士大学国际事务副院长（合作方向），负责推进理学院在多学科领域（涵盖化学、物理、数学、生态学、生物学、心理学、材料科学及航空等多个学科领域）的国际科研合作。
Dr. Matthew AB. Baker obtained his Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Chemistry from the Australian National University. As a John Monash Scholar, he completed his DPhil in Physics at the University of Oxford, where he studied the molecular motors that makes many bacteria swim. He finished a postdoc on protein transport in the Department of Biochemistry in Oxford and then returned to Australia to study structural biology at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney, Australia. He is currently a Scientia Associate Professor in the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences at UNSW Sydney. Dr. Baker’s research focuses on biophysical and biomolecular mechanisms, with the aim of elucidating how simple subunit interactions drive the assembly and functional regulation of complex biological architectures at the molecular scale. Using the bacterial flagellar motor as a model system, his work has provided mechanistic insights into the assembly of the rotor (Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 2016) and the filament (eLife, 2017), highlighting the central role of subunit interactions in the construction of complex molecular machines.
Dr. Baker is the former President of the Australian Society for Biophysics and currently serves as a Councillor of the International Union for Pure and Applied Biophysics (IUPAB) as well as the Australian Delegate to the Asian Biophysical Societies Association (ABA). From 2026, Matthew is the incoming Associate Dean International (Partnerships) at UNSW Sydney, developing strategic research partnerships across all schools in the Faculty of Science (which includes Chemistry, Physics, Maths, Ecology, Biology, Psychology, Materials and Aviation).
【时间Time】：2026年1月22日9:30-12:00
【地点Venue】：2号楼 1201会议室
【邀请人Host】：李毅能 研究员
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