Major constituents of the venom of various animals are peptidogenic in nature. Marine snails belonging to the species Conus are venomous predators that use small, structurally constrained peptides present in their venom ...

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) are at the center of the question of the origin of life and are essential proteins found in all living organisms. AARSs arose early in evolution to interpret genetic code and are believed ...

This thesis describes studies directed towards understanding structure-function relationships of triosephosphate isomerase (TIM), from a protozoan parasite Plasmodium falciparum and a thermophilic archaea Methanocaldococcus ...

The first chapter will provide an introduction to the physiology, pathogenesis and biology of mycobacteria. Host-pathogen interactions, different modes of resistance of the bacteria, adaptations for survival under nutrient ...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis has one ribosomal RNA operon. The survival of this bacillus thus depends on a transcription mechanism that can effectively couple gene expression to changes in the environment. σ factors are ...

The Dps (DNA-Binding Protein from Starved Cells) proteins are a class of stress-specific proteins with a major role in protecting DNA during the stationary phase of bacterial growth, through direct physical binding as well ...

Homologous recombination is a fundamental cellular process evolved to maintain genomic integrity and to generate genetic diversity. It plays a crucial role in DNA repair, correct segregation of meiotic chromosomes and ...

Proteins performing catalytic roles predominantly occur in a few protein folds. Functional diversity within a common structural scaffold has been attributed to conformational features that enable exploration of reaction ...

Epilepsy is characterized by the hyperexcitability of individual neurons and hyper synchronization of groups of neurons (networks). The acquired changes that take place at molecular, cellular and network levels are important ...

Branched chain amino acids are classified as essential amino acids since their biosynthetic routes or pathways are restricted only to micro-organisms, fungi and plants. Given their unique distribution, the enzymes of the ...