Ms. Xenia Schuplezow

Bott / Brocker Group Institute of Biotechnology 1 Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH Wilhelm-Johnen-Strasse, Building 15.4, Room 246 52428 Jülich, Germany  +49(0)2461-61-5556

Mini Academic CV

University degrees:

First degree or intermediate examination:

• Vordiplom (Biology), 2007, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany

Second degree and/or intermediate examination:

• Diplom (Biology), 2009, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany

BioStruct PhD project

Investigating structure, dynamics and mechanism of a membrane-bound sensor kinase using solid-state NMR and X-ray crystallography
Corynebacterium glutamicum is of outstanding importance in industrial biotechnology as a platform for the production of amino acids and several other products. We are studying metabolic, regulatory and signal transduction networks of this bacterium as a basis for metabolic engineering and the definition of optimal cultivation conditions in production processes. In this context, we investigate two-component signal transduction systems (TCS), which are composed of a membrane-bound sensor kinase and a soluble response regulator. Sensing of a specific stimulus by the dimeric sensor kinase leads to autophosphorylation of a conserved histidine residue, with one monomer phosphorylating the other. Subsequently the phosphoryl group is transferred to a conserved aspartate residue of the cognate response regulator, which thereby is activated or inactivated. Although thousands of studies were performed on TCS, no complete structure of a membrane-bound sensor kinase is available up to now. Only few structures of individual domains of sensor kinases have been published, either alone or in complex with a stimulatory ligand or in complex with the cognate response regulator. In the planned work, we want to investigate structure and dynamics of a sensor kinase by using solid-state NMR and X-ray crystallography and thereby get hints on the mechanism by which the external signal is transferred across the cytoplasmic membrane. Knowledge of this mechanism will certainly be relevant for many TCS and help to manipulate these systems in the field of biotechnology.


Topic Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Michael Bott & Dr. Melanie Brocker, Institute of Biotechnology 1, Research Center Jülich GmbH, Bott / Brocker Group

Complementary Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Georg Groth, Institute for Plant Biochemistry, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf , Groth Group

BioStruct Fellow: Ms. Xenia Schuplezow