Sustainable Light Achieved in Living Plants
The movie Avatar evoked an imaginary world of lush bioluminescent jungles. Now the popular fascination for sustainably glowing foliage is being realized through advances in designer genetics. This week in Nature Biotechnology, scientists have announced the feasibility of creating plants that produce their own visible luminescence. The scientists from the IBCH RAS in collaboration with russian and foreign colleagues revealed that bioluminescence found in some mushrooms is metabolically similar to the natural processes common among plants. By inserting DNA obtained from the mushroom, the scientists were able to create plants that glow much brighter than previously possible. Learn more
News 
- A kinase bioscavenger provides antibiotic resistance by extremely tight substrate binding
science news
VI.26 Kinase-mediated phosphorylation represents one of the general strategies for the emergence of antibiotic resistance. A new subfamily of AmiN-like kinases, isolated from the Siberian bear microbiome, inactivates antibiotic amicoumacin by phosphorylation. The nanomolar substrate affinity defines AmiN as a phosphotransferase with a unique catalytic efficiency proximal to the diffusion limit. Crystallographic analysis and multiscale simulations revealed a catalytically perfect mechanism providing phosphorylation exclusively in the case of a closed active site that counteracts substrate promiscuity. AmiN kinase is a member of the previously unknown subfamily representing the first evidence of a specialized phosphotransferase bioscavenger.
- Transgenic aspen plants (Populus tremula) with the expression of recombinant xyloglucanase sp-Xeg show an increased growth rate, altered composition and properties of wood, and the phenotype of the plant as a whole
science news
VI.8 Scientists from the Group of Forest Biotechnology IBCh RAS obtained the transgenic aspen with acceletated growth, a modified carbohydrate composition and a slower rate of decomposition of wood.
- Structure of Supramers Formed by the Amphiphile Biotin‐CMG‐DOPE
science news
VI.6 Scientists from the Department of Chemical Biology of Glycans and Lipids, the Department of structural biology and the Department of Biomaterials and Bionanotechnology IBCh RAS in collaboration with Russian and foreign colleges published a paper in ChemistryOpen on the study of conjugate of a biotin with DOPE (dioleoylphosphatidyl ethanolamine) and on its interaction with streptavidin.
Events
- Lipids 2021 Conference
conferences
X.19–21.21 Lipids 2021 Conference, October 19-21, 2021, IBCH RAS, Moscow
- Lecture by Director-General of the ICGEB Lawrence Banks «Human Papillomaviruses: From Infectious Entry to Malignancy»
science news
I.27 (This event is over) ICGEB Director-General Group Leader Lawrence Banks will deliver a lecture entitled «Human Papillomaviruses: From Infectious Entry to Malignancy». Date and time: Mon 27 January 2020 14:00. Location: Small conference hall at 3rd floor BON IBCh.
- LIGHTS ON: Molecular Imaging of disease dynamics in vivo
science news
IX.27 — X.11.19 (This event is over) Abhijit De PhD Scientific Officer ‘F’ and Principal Investigator Head, Molecular Functional Imaging Lab Advanced Centre of Training Research and Education in Cancer, Tata Memorial Centre, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, India.