Objective
In recent years, a new family of metal-responsive transcription factors has been identified, two of which, SmtB and a novel sequence designated as PacR, are present in cyanobacteria (Prof. Robinson's lab). Most of these metal-responsive repressors control the expression of proteins involved in metal ion homeostasis or detoxification, and are characterized by their ability to sense specific metal ions. The existence of a family of related regulatory proteins which differ in the spectrum of metal ions that they sense provides a unique opportunity to identify the determinants of metal specificity. The objective of this program is to identify the metal-binding sites in these repressors and to establish what structures determine the different preferences within the spectrum of metal-ions sensed by these repressors. The relationship between the structure and the function of the metal-binding site of several members of this repressor family, in particular of SmtB, the repressor of the first (characterized) prokaryotic metallothionein gene, smtA, and PacR, the putative repressor of a gene encoding a predicted copper ATPase, will be analyzed in detail to understand how these metals are perceived by cyanobacteria. We will use the strategy of in vitro evolution by phage display technology to modify ligand affinity and specificity of SmtB and PacR. This approach will reveal which amino acids form the metal-binding site in these repressors and also lead to the engineering of novel metal-sensor proteins. There are potential long-term applications for the development of metal-specific biosensors and for engineering metal-resistance/-accumulation.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors biosensors
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry amines
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology homeostasis
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Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
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Coordinator
54006 Thessaloniki
Greece
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