Browsing by Supervisor "Arcus, Vickery L."
Now showing items 1-20 of 29
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Biochemical Characterisation of Reconstructed Ancestral CM-DAH7PS Enzymes
(University of Waikato, 2012)Thermophily has been proposed to be a primitive trait (Stetter, 2006, Pace, 1991, Woese, 1987) which has led to suggestions that all contemporary thermophilic species are the direct descendants of ancient thermophilic ... -
The Biochemistry of VapBC Toxin-Antitoxins
(University of Waikato, 2011)The VapBC toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems were first identified in 2005 and little is known about their contemporary biological function, despite the fact that VapBC TAs are the largest TA family and are widespread in bacteria ... -
Caldalkalibacillus thermarum PhoH2: Solving the solubility puzzle
(University of Waikato, 2017)Previous attempts to determine the structure of the protein PhoH2 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium smegmatis and Thermobispora bispora have been unsuccessful producing diffraction data to low resolution. The ... -
Characterisation of Enzyme Evolution through Ancestral Enzyme Reconstruction
(University of Waikato, 2013)Through ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR) techniques, ancient enzymes can be recreated and biochemically tested, giving insight into the enzymes’ evolutionary history. A previous study by Hobbs et al. (2012) has ... -
Characterisation of the FitAB Toxin-Antitoxin System in Neisseria gonorrhoeae
(The University of Waikato, 2019)Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the causative agent of the sexually transmitted infection, gonorrhoea. In a standard infection, N. gonorrhoeae invade epithelial cells lining the urogenital tract and exit into the sub-epithelial ... -
Characterisation of VapBC Toxin-Antitoxins from Mycobacterium tuberculosis
(University of Waikato, 2013)Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems were identified more than 20 years ago on the mini F plasmid of Escherichia coli as plasmid stability elements; components responsible for purging bacterial cells that lack the plasmid from the ... -
Decoupling enzyme catalysis from thermal denaturation
(The University of Waikato, 2010)The equilibrium model (EM) (Daniel et al., 2001) postulates two forms of a folded enzyme, one catalytically active (Eact) and the other inactive (Einact), which interconvert via a fast thermal equilibrium (Keq) (Figure A). ... -
Directed evolution and structural analysis of an OB-fold domain towards a specifc binding reagent
(University of Waikato, 2011)Interactions between proteins are a central concept in biology, and understanding and manipulation of these interactions is key to advancing biological science. Research into antibodies as customised binding molecules ... -
The DNA Binding Protein Lsr2 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis
(University of Waikato, 2012)Lsr2 is a small, basic DNA binding protein that is highly conserved in mycobacteria and related actinomycetes. Lsr2 is essential for growth in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and previous studies have shown that Lsr2 is involved ... -
Do PhoH2 proteins regulate SigF in mycobacteria?
(The University of Waikato, 2018)There is little known about the role of the PhoH2 proteins in biology. PhoH2 consists of two domains, an N-terminal PIN domain with RNase activity and a C-terminal PhoH domain shown to have ATP induced RNA helicase activity. ... -
Engineering and characterisation of anti-progesterone OBodies
(The University of Waikato, 2018)Molecular interactions are fundamental to communication between different parts of the cell or of an organism. These interactions can be weak and transient or strong and semi-permanent. In the case of the adaptive immune ... -
Evolution of Bacillus subtilis: A Novel Phenotype and its Challenges
(The University of Waikato, 2018)The enzyme LeuB from the last common ancestor of the firmicutes has been statistically recreated using several different methods. This project deals with two versions, Rec/LG and Rec/EX. To better understand these resurrected ... -
Fibre Degrading Enzymes from Butyrivibrio proteoclasticus
(University of Waikato, 2011)The rumen harbours a large and diverse microbial population that is responsible for the breakdown of plant material into smaller compounds, which can then be utilised by the animal. Butyrivibrio proteoclasticus is an ... -
Finding the good vibes of life, man: Identifying catalytic vibrations in enzyme catalysis
(The University of Waikato, 2020)Enzyme catalysis is one of the most vital components of life. As such the elucidation of the exact mechanics of this kind of catalysis is important. The aim of this work is to look into enzyme catalysis though the lens of ... -
Identifying the signalling pathway of a novel Myostatin Splice Variant (MSV)
(University of Waikato, 2014)Myostatin (Mstn), a member of the transforming growth factor-β super family, is a potent negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass. Studies delineating the function of Mstn have identified multiple signal transduction ... -
Investigating Macromolecular Rate Theory
(The University of Waikato, 2017)Curvature with temperature is a defining characteristic of enzyme catalysed rates. Historically, curvature has been described by Arrhenius behaviour up to a temperature optimum (Tₒₚₜ), while decreases in rates above Tₒₚₜ ... -
Measuring the temperature response of soil respiration from two distinct carbon pools in soil.
(The University of Waikato, 2020)As soils contain a large store of terrestrial carbon, understanding the dynamics and stability of this important carbon reserve and how it may change with regards to future changes in temperature is of global interest. It ... -
Mechanism of RNA cleavage by VapC from Pyrobaculum aerophilum
(University of Waikato, 2012)Proteins belonging to the PIN-domain family are widespread across bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes. PIN-domain structures are well characterised and contain three highly conserved acidic residues that are orientated to ... -
Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains in New Zealand: phylogeny and structural biology
(The University of Waikato, 2019)Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an obligate human pathogen and is the primary causative agent of tuberculosis. New Zealand has a relatively low incidence of tuberculosis disease, however, Māori (the indigenous people of New ... -
Regulation of Metabolism in Mycobacteria and Cyanobacteria
(University of Waikato, 2015)Bacteria encounter changes in their environment and must adapt to these changes in order to survive. Their ability to adapt is determined by their capacity to efficiently regulate their cellular processes. The mechanisms ...
