Research Positions for Undergraduates, Spring term 2014
The Bommarius lab
seeks undergraduate students interested in challenging research!
The Bommarius laboratory (ChBE,
CHEM, Bioengineering) specializes in biocatalysis, green chemistry, protein
stability, and biochemical engineering.
We seek self-motivated, hard-working student researchers interested to
continue for a PhD and/or MD after college, to work on cutting-edge research
problems and to learn new skills.
Eligibility:
i) graduation date (B.S.) between 05/15 and
12/16 in BIOL, ChBE, or CHEM
ii) GPA at Georgia Tech > 3.30, preferably
> 3.5
iii) basic laboratory skills, enthusiasm,
self-motivation, flexibility, independence
iv) start in Spring 2014 for credit,
continuation during summer possible and expected
Interested?: Please
email resume (incl. i) major,
ii) GPA, and iii) expected graduation date) to mentor
and to Prof. Andreas S. Bommarius (
andreas.bommarius@chbe.gatech.edu).
Interviews with mentor: any
time; feedback: less than 1 day later; decision asap after agreement among
student, mentor, and faculty advisor
We have positions available on the
following projects:
- Isolation and Purification of Penicillin G Acylase
Penicillin G Acylase (PGA) is
an enzyme used in industry for the generation of beta-lactam nuclei such as
6-aminopenicillanic acid, then used to produce semisynthetic beta-lactam
antibiotics (BLAs); PGA has the capability to synthesize (and hydrolyze) BLAs
such as penicillins. However, as well studied as this enzyme is, an efficient
protocol for its purification is still needed to perform further investigations
including protein engineering to extend its substrate range. The role of the student will be to develop a protocol
for enzyme purification and will learn fermentation, chromatography, and
protein assays. This project requires
knowledge of biochemistry. Mentor: Marietou Paye (mfpaye@gatech.edu)
- Converting glucose dehydrogenase into alcohol dehydrogenase using
protein engineering
Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH),
one of the most versatile biocatalysts, and glucose dehydroge-nase (GDH) share
a common structure and catalytic mechanism.
Our goal is to demonstrate an example of divergent protein evolution
while generating novel enzymes useful in the synthesis of pharma
intermediates. We already have several
GDH variants that need to be tested for alternative substrate specificity and
then expand the sequence space via mutation to generate new variants converting
the enzyme towards an alcohol dehydrogenase.
The
student will learn a host of methods, such as bacterial expression, protein
purification using immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC), as well as
characterization of new enzyme variants via SDS-PAGE for purity assessment,
protein concentration assays, and activity assays (UV-VIS, HPLC, GC). The student will learn how to manipulate DNA
to generate new variants using overlap extension PCR. The project will require knowledge of organic
chemistry, biochemistry, and some kinetics.
Mentors: Dr. Bettina Bommarius (bettina.bommarius@chbe.gatech.edu) and Samantha Au (sau3@gatech.edu)
