Research Symposium

BIO

I am a sophomore from Hollywood, Florida. I have been doing research in Biochemistry since the second semester of my freshman year under Dr. Wen Zhu. After graduation, I plan on attending law school.

Expression and Purification of a Radical S-adenosyl-L-Methionine Enzyme

Abstract

With antibiotic resistance on the rise, new antibiotics are in high demand. Many naturally occurring antibiotics are biologically synthesized by radical S-adenosyl-L-methionine (rSAM) enzymes. Our goal is to gain a better understanding of how rSAM enzymes synthesize naturally occurring antibiotics to uncover new routes for creating synthetic mimics that have antimicrobial activity. In this study, we expressed and purified a rSAM enzyme using Escherichia coli. Successful enzyme production lays a foundation for further studies on the biosynthesis of antibiotics.

Keywords: Chemistry, Biochemistry, Enzymes