On the way to a biological alternative
The research team of Prof. Dr. Oliver Einsle at the University of Freiburg's Institute of Biochemistry has long been exploring the functioning of nitrogenase. Now the group is introducing the first three-dimensional structural analysis of the enzyme variant that contains vanadium. Within the scope of preparing his doctoral thesis, Daniel Sippel succeeded in producing and crystallizing vanadium nitrogenase. Taking this as his basis, he used x-ray diffraction experiments to elucidate its spatial structure at the level of atomic resolution. The team's long term goal is to make nitrogenase biotechnologcially useful in order to develop alternatives to industrial chemical processes. The researchers have presented their findings in the scientific journal Nature Chemical Biology.