Publications by authors named "Lukas Drexler"
Article Synopsis
- The study explores how new enzymatic activities can rapidly evolve from existing ones, using the herbicide atrazine as a case study.
- Researchers focused on the enzyme AtzB, which breaks down atrazine, examining its side activities to uncover its evolutionary origins.
- The findings indicate that small mutations can greatly enhance enzyme activity, demonstrating how minimal changes can lead to significant evolutionary advancements in enzymatic function.
The conservation of fold and chemistry of the enzymes associated with histidine biosynthesis suggests that this pathway evolved prior to the diversification of Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes. The only exception is the histidinol phosphate phosphatase (HolPase). So far, non-homologous HolPases that possess distinct folds and belong to three different protein superfamilies have been identified in various phylogenetic clades.
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