The stringent response is a highly conserved physiological response mounted by bacteria under stress (Ojha and Chatterji, 2001; Magnusson et al., 2005; Srivatsan and Wang, 2007; Potrykus and Cashel, 2008). Until recently, ...

During the past decade the effects of macromolecular crowding on reaction pathways is gaining in prominence. The stress is to move out of the realms of ideal solution studies and make conceptual modifications that consider ...

This thesis set out to explore the conformational properties of short designed peptide sequences, in which transitions between structural states may be anticipated. The use of conformationally constrained residues like ...

In the present thesis, two positive sense single-stranded RNA viruses have been used as models to understand the structure and function of viral-encoded proteins. One of them, Pepper Vein Banding Virus (PVBV; genus Potyvirus; ...

The ability of our immune system to mount a response against non-self-antigens legitimates the semi-allogenic fetus as a target for maternal immune attack. Yet, in a normal pregnancy the fetus stays well protected due to ...

The survival of the any living organism depends on its availability to communicate, and a breakdown of cellular signaling can have dire consequences such as uncontrolled cellular proliferations or even cell death. Environmental ...