The evolution and function of lysine desert proteins

LYSINE: The evolution and function of lysine desert proteins

Proteins are made up of long chains consisting of hundreds to thousands of amino acids. The amino acid lysine is relatively common, and it is therefore a mystery why many of our proteins contain long stretches completely without lysine. The goal of this project is, via laboratory experiments and bioinformatics, to investigate the function of this group of proteins called "lysine deserts". In the project, we expect to elucidate why evolution has selected against lysine in these proteins.

The grant will finance the salary of a postdoc as well as the running costs for the laboratory work and dissemination of the results.