Research Topic:Our interest is chemistry and biology of natural products. The main focus of our research is to explore the natural products with special emphasis on isolation structural characterization, bioactivity, biosynthesis, modification and mechanistic insights for their biosynthesis. A multidisciplinary approach involving concepts of organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, and microbiology are employed to address fundamental problems at the interface of chemistry and biology Our lab is well equipped for conducting the research in multidisciplinary area of Chemical Biology. 1. Biosynthesis of isoprenoids • Genome / transcriptome mining for the genes which encodes enzymes involved in the isoprenoids biosynthesis • Characterization of enzymes in the isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway and establish the mechanisms they utilize for catalysis • Synthesize and evaluate alternate substrates and inhibitors for enzymes. • Evaluate the role of catalytic site residues by site-directed mutagenesis. • Use of recombinant DNA technology to synthesize enzymes for core skeletons of biologically and commercially important secondary metabolites • Study X-ray structures of enzyme-inhibitor complexes 2. Biocatalysis/Biotransformation Utilization of the nature’s catalysts for the synthesis/modification of biologically and commercially important organic molecules • Screening of microorganisms (isolated/culture collection)/isolated enzymes for novel and useful transformations • Enzyme expression, purification, characterization, stability studies and immobilization • Use of recombinant DNA technology for structure-based engineering or to synthesize the chimeric enzymes with new activity • Utilizing the microbes as “model for mammalian metabolism” 3. The search for bioactive substances (isolation, structure elucidation and modifications)
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