Native ESI-MS and Collision-Induced Unfolding (CIU) of the Complex between Bacterial Elongation Factor-Tu and the Antibiotic Enacyloxin IIa.

Collision-induced unfolding (CIU) of protein ions, monitored by ion mobility-mass spectrometry, can be used to assess the stability of their compact gas-phase fold and hence provide structural information. The bacterial elongation factor EF-Tu, a key protein for mRNA translation in prokaryotes and hence a promising antibiotic target, has been studied by CIU. The major [M + 12H] ion of EF-Tu unfolded in collision with Ar atoms between 40 and 50 V, corresponding to an energy of 480-500 eV.

A diterpene synthase from the sandfly produces the pheromone sobralene.

The phlebotomine sandfly, , a major vector of the parasite, uses terpene pheromones to attract conspecifics for mating. Examination of the genome revealed a putative terpene synthase (TPS), which-upon heterologous expression in, and purification from, -yielded a functional enzyme. The TPS, termed TPS, converted geranyl diphosphate (GPP) into a mixture of monoterpenes with low efficiency, of which β-ocimene was the major product.