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Jennifer Wong
Year: Senior
Major(s): Biochemistry
Mentor: Ballicora, Miguel
Department: Chemistry & Biochemistry
Project Title: The Effects of Point Mutations on the Kinetics of ADP-glucose Pyrophosphorylase from Escherichia Coli
Project Abstract: ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (ADP-Glc PPase) is an enzyme that regulates starch and glycogen synthesis in plants and bacteria, respectively. To study the structure-function relationship of Escherichia coli ADP-Glc PPase, a point mutation was inserted into the gene. The amino acid alanine replaced proline (P103A), glutamine (Q105A and Q106A), methionine (M108A), tryptophan (W113A), and arginine (R115A) at their respective positions in the sequence. The activity of each mutated enzyme will be assayed to observe if they could be activated. This will allow us to study the properties of the enzyme, how the mutation will affect its activity, and how the mutated enzyme will differ from ADP-Glc PPase that does not have mutations in its gene.