Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive bacterium that causes a toxin-mediated disease, typically in individuals whose normal intestinal flora has been compromised by antibiotic therapy. C. difficile is naturally resistant to many antibiotics and produces spores that can withstand harsh environmental conditions and many disinfectants, making the infection difficult to clear and easy to spread. The infection begins when spores from the environment are ingested and germinate upon exposure to taurocholate and glycine in the digestive tract. This germination process is required to initiate infection and thus represents a good target for the development of novel therapeutics. Although spore germination is necessary for disease transmission, the molecular mechanisms regulating this process are poorly understood. Germination relies on sensing a germinant and triggering degradation of the cortex layer of the spore, which is important for spore resistance. Once the cortex is degraded, the spore can undergo outgrowth to a vegetative cell and secrete toxins to cause disease symptoms. There are several discrete steps to the proteolytic cascade that ultimately lead to cortex hydrolysis. First, the pseudoprotease CspC acts as a germinant receptor for the bile salt taurocholate; CspC then relays this signal to the subtilisin-like serine protease, CspB. CspB is required for efficient cleavage and activation of the cortex hydrolase. SleC. Upon proteolytic activation of SleC, cortex hydrolysis can proceed, which allows subsequent outgrowth. To better understand the mechanistic basis of the germination process, we solved the 1.6 Å structure of the required germination protease, CspB, from C. perfringens (a related pathogen). This structure revealed that CspB is comprised of three domains: an associated prodomain, a subtilase domain, and a jellyroll domain. Our work significantly advanced our understanding of the proteolytic cascade that leads to germination; in particular the structure and function of the CspB protease, and the role of its three domains. We have described the four domains of the cortex hydrolase, SleC, and how they contribute to the activity of SleC. We have recently obtained diffraction-quality crystals of the pseudoprotease, CspC, from an organism more closely related to C. difficile, C. bifermentans. Our latest work, focusing on the germination receptor, CspC, has brought us closer to a three-dimensional structure of this protein, which will likely reveal how it binds ligands and functions in germination.

Metallhalogenid-Perowskite (MHP) haben sich als hervorragende Materialklasse im Bereich der Optoelektronik erwiesen, obwohl die Degradation der häufig verwendeten organischen Komponenten ihre Langzeitstabilität begrenzt. Um schnell stabile Alternativen zu finden, ist eine Parallelisierung des Prozesses der Materialentwicklung durch kombinatorische Synthese und Hochdurchsatzanalyse erforderlich. In dieser Arbeit wird dies durch die Entwicklung, Implementierung und Validierung zweier komplementärer Methoden für die kombinatorische Synthese realisiert. Zum einen wurde die lösungsmittelbasierte Methode des kombinatorischen Tintenstrahldrucks weiterentwickelt, indem ein neuer Algorithmus für eine verbesserte Tintenmischung bereitgestellt und validiert wurde. Zum anderen wurde die Synthese von CsyPb1-y(BrxI1-x)2-y-Doppelgradientenschichten durch Co-Verdampfung erreicht. Kombinatorische Bibliotheken, die durch diese beiden Methoden hergestellt wurden, wurden für die Hochdurchsatzuntersuchung der strukturellen und optischen Eigenschaften der anorganischen CsyPb1-y(BrxI1-x)2-y-MHP verwendet. Dies ermöglichte die schnelle Erstellung vollständiger Phasendiagramme für Dünnfilme des CsPb(BrxI1-x)3-Mischkristalls, die zeigen, dass die Zugabe von Br die halbleitende Perowskitphase stabilisiert und niedrigere Verarbeitungstemperaturen ermöglicht. Darüber hinaus wurden CsyPb1-y(BrxI1-x)2-y-Bibliotheken mit automatisierten, kontaktlosen optischen Raster-Messungen untersucht, die eine schnelle Sichtung von über 3400 Zusammensetzungen ermöglichten. Dies ermöglichte die Bewertung des photovoltaischen Potenzials von CsyPb1-y(BrxI1-x)2-y über einen sehr breiten Bereich von Zusammensetzungen. Das höchste Wirkungsgradpotenzial wurde für stöchiometrische Zusammensetzungen gefunden, wobei ein Überschuss an Pb oder Cs zu erhöhten Verlusten durch nichtstrahlende Rekombination führt. Diese Ergebnisse liefern wichtige Erkenntnisse für die weitere Entwicklung von anorganischen MHP-Bauelementen. / To keep up with the increasing need for specialized materials, a parallelization of the materials discovery process is needed through combinatorial synthesis and high-throughput analysis. The acceleration of materials discovery is especially of interest in the area of optoelectronics where metal halide perovskites (MHPs) have proven to be an excellent material class and have achieved impressive performance in photovoltaic devices among other applications. However, the degradation of the frequently employed organic components contributes to limiting the long-term stability of MHP devices. In this work, accelerated materials discovery is addressed through the development, implementation, and validation of two complementary methods for combinatorial synthesis. Firstly, the solution-based method of combinatorial inkjet printing was further developed by providing and validating a new algorithm for improved ink mixing. Secondly, the vapor-based synthesis of double-gradient CsyPb1-y(BrxI1-x)2-y was achieved by co-evaporation. Combinatorial libraries created by both methods were used for the high-throughput investigation of the structural and optical properties of the inorganic CsyPb1-y(BrxI1-x)2-y MHPs. This enabled the fast construction of complete phase diagrams for thin-films of the CsPb(BrxI1-x)3 solid solution which show that the addition of Br stabilizes the semiconducting perovskite phase and allows for lower processing temperatures. Additionally, CsyPb1-y(BrxI1-x)2-y libraries were investigated by automized, contact-less, optical mapping measurements, enabling the rapid screening of over 3400 compositions. This enabled the assessment of the photovoltaic potential of CsyPb1-y(BrxI1-x)2-y over a very broad compositional range. The maximum efficiency potential was found for stoichiometric compositions, with excess of Pb or Cs causing increased losses by non-radiative recombination. These results provide vital knowledge for further development of inorganic MHP devices.