A team of biomedical researchers from Brandeis University and the University of Texas at Austin has determined the first 3-dimensional structure of an enzyme that may be pivotal in preventing certain bacterial infections in plants, animals and humans, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The enzyme had already been shown in previous studies to significantly decrease soft rot in potato plants. The Brandeis and University of Texas team purified the enzyme and identified its structure using X-ray crystallography, an essential step toward developing drugs that may reduce the pathogenicity of bacteria involved in biowarfare threats such as glanders and diseases such as cystic fibrosis.
