Bioorganic Chemistry and Bio-Crystallography laboratory (B₂Cl)

The laboratory of Bioorganic chemistry and Bio-Crystallography (B₂Cl) is devoted to the study of organic molecules involved in biological processes such as proteins, enzymes, carbohydrates and DNA. Form March 2009 the laboratory has been created to mainly develop structural biology in the region and to study organisms with a link to the local economy. In this framework the study of the phytopathogenic bacterium Erwinia amylovora has played a pivotal role. E. amylovora is the causative agent of Fire blight in Rosaceae as apple, pear, raspberry and several ornamentals. Other lines of research involve the study of enzymes with potential applications in biotechnology.

We are mostly specialized on structural biology by X-ray crystallography, the most powerful tool to investigate biomolecules at the atomic level. We have collaboration with prestigious scientific institutions such as the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL-Hamburg), DIAMOND synchrotron (UK), the Department of Biological Chemistry at the John Innes Centre (JIC) UK, the Department of Crop science at the University of Illinois and the Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna.

The pictures below show examples of our results