User:Teresa Wooten
From Proteopedia
* [{User: Teresa Wooten/Wooten_Sandbox 1}]
- Position: Student
- Institution (NO ABBREVIATIONS): Maryville University--St.Louis
- City, State/Province, Country: St.Louis, MO USA
- Field of Expertise or Study: student
scene-
place holder
Background
Bees are considered social insects, therefore their perception and behavior can be influenced by their environment through pheromones and particular odors. 3FBA is the Crystal structure of a pheromone binding protein from Apis mellifera in complex with the Queen mandibular pheromone (QMP). The perception is complex, as it relies on a cascade of recognition that is first sequenced by the antennae by a pheromone-binding protein that recognizes it and finished with a transduction signal at the axon membrane level1. SCENE This particular pheromone serves as an anesthetic and paralyzes intruders and signals the worker bees to remove the intruder from the hive, swarming behavior, mating behavior, and suppresses ovary development in workers (making all females sterile except for the queen and a small portion of fertile males referred to as drones.)
|
Structure of 3FBA
The 3FBA protein possesses an asymmetric configuration and the protein stoichiometry is to be seen as a monomer (the foundational structure that can be paired with another to form a larger molecule). The expression system at which the 3FBA operates is the pichia pastoris. Pichia pastoris is a methylotroph yeast that is capable of growing with simple alcohol as the only energy source. High yields at a low cost help aid in 3FBA production . P. pastoris can do most post-translational modifications and the obtained recombinant proteins undergo protein folding, protein processing, glycosylation, and disulfide bond formation2. 3FBA undergoes transformation via a vector into the P. pastoris via electroporation. DNA expression and PCR are conducted to make sure the yeast, P. pastoris, uptook 3FBA.
|
As stated above, there are many types of pheromones that honeybees operate from. The queen mandibular pheromone is most important containing compounds such as carboxylic acid and aromatic compounds like the ligand 9ODA that stands for 9-oxo-2-decenoic acid more commonly referred to as the queen substance1. 3FBA structure features two types of ligands: 9OD and GOL. The 9ODA structure consists of 10 Carbons, 16 Hydrogens, and 3 Oxygens. The other important ligand in 3FBA is GOL which stands for glycerol. The structure of glycerol features 3 Carbons, 8 Hydrogens, and 3 Oxygens.
Structurally, 3FBA also features a Zinc complex that is utilized as a structural cofactor. Cofactors are molecules that assist in biochemical reactions by increasing the rate or considered a catalyst. The residues that surround the Zinc and the binding site are most conserved in the 3FBA structure.
