Phys.org

Reconstructed ancient protein maps how bacterial enzymes evolved distinct functions

How do related proteins develop different functions? This is the question investigated by a research team involving Kiel University, DESY and the Center for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB). Led by Holger Sondermann, professor at Kiel University and head of the Structural Microbiology group at DESY, the researchers reconstructed the common ancestor of two bacterial enzymes and produced the long-extinct protein in the laboratory.