Collaborative research visit to the California Institute of Technology

Hopanoids是一类由细菌产生的类固醇样分子，人们对此知之甚少。长期以来，人们一直认为，Hopanes，hopanoids的分子化石，揭示了重要的微生物代谢的兴起历史，如形成氧气的光合作用，但最近来自Dianne纽曼教授实验室（加州理工学院）的结果挑战了这种解释。现在很明显，我们的能力，以解释什么Hopanes反映地球化学和/或生物进化是阻碍了他们的细胞内的功能了解不足。纽曼教授对类Hopanoid形成和在类Hopanoid产生细菌Rhodopyramidpalustris TIE-1中的定位的研究表明，在某些条件下，类Hopanoid在生长和细胞分裂中起着至关重要的作用。为了在分子水平上了解它们的生物学作用，我们需要一个化学工具包来研究hopanoid定位并识别结合它们的蛋白质。康威博士和纽曼教授的目标是共同开发这种分子工具包。拟议的研究访问将使康威博士获得为该工具包生产起点所需的技能，改进涉及纯化的一些过程，并尝试制造所需分子工具所需的一些化学反应。

Hopanoids are a poorly understood class of steroid-like molecules produced by bacteria. It has long been assumed that hopanes, molecular fossils of hopanoids, reveal a history of the rise of important microbial metabolisms such as oxygen-forming photosynthesis, but recent results from Prof. Dianne Newman's laboratory (California Institute of Technology) have challenged this interpretation. It is now apparent that our ability to interpret what hopanes reflect about geochemical and/or biological evolution is hindered by a poor understanding of their function within cells. Prof. Newman's studies of hopanoid formation and localisation in the hopanoid-producing bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE-1, suggest that hopanoids play a crucial role in growth and cell division under certain conditions. To understand their biological roles at the molecular level, we require a chemical toolkit to study hopanoid localisation and to identify the proteins that bind them. Dr Conway and Prof. Newman aim to jointly develop this toolkit of molecules. The proposed research visit will allow Dr Conway to acquire the skills required to produce the starting point for this toolkit, improve some of the processes involved in purification and try some of the chemical reactions required to make the required molecular tools.