Florian Baier
M.Sc. Program
Previous Degrees: Dipl. Biological Chemistry,
M.Sc. Biomedical Research
2011 Cohort
The growing evidence indicated that many, if not most, enzymes do not possess absolute specificity, but exhibit secondary low activities in addition to their native one. For example, members of a superfamily often share promiscuous activities, which are considered as a sign of evolutionary linkage. Investigating native and promiscuous activity patterns of enzymes with sequence and structural characterizations may shed light on understanding evolutionary relationships among members of a enzyme superfamily. The aim of my work is to systematically characterize enzymatic promiscuity of the members of the metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) superfamily and correlate activity patterns to sequential and structural divergence. Furthermore, I will conduct directed evolution experiments to reconstruct evolutionary trajectories within this superfamily.
Supervisor: Nobuhiko Tokuriki
