U.S.-Finland Cooperative Research: Characterization of Mutants of The Bo-type Respiratory Oxidase of E. Coli

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This award supports Professor Robert B. Gennis and a graduate student of the University of Illinois to collaborate in biochemistry research with Professor Marten Wikstrom and his research group at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry of the University of Helsinki, Finland. The primary objective of their research is to characterize the structural and functional details of the predominant membrane- bound enzyme in Escherichia coli which catalyzes the oxidation of ubiquinol and the reduction of molecular oxygen to water. This electron transfer reaction is coupled to the net translocation of protons across the cell membrane. The research plan involves a synergistic combination of molecular genetics expertise in the U.S. group and biophysical and spectroscopic expertise in the group in Finland. The type of oxidases being studied by these scientists are a major family of enzymes directly involved in biological energy transduction. The proposed research should provide the experimental basis for understanding the architecture of these enzymes and the molecular basis of proton translocation.