WELCOME TO THE IWATA-REUYL
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Research in the lab focuses on problems at the interface of chemistry and biology, and addresses diverse aspects of protein function, mechanism, structure, evolution, and design. We employ a multidisciplinary approach that includes enzymology, kinetics, molecular biology, and organic synthesis, and our close collaborations with other research groups allow us to further broaden the scope of our work to include structural biology, computational genomics, genetics, and physiology.

The inspiration for all of our research is post-transcriptional processing of RNA, specifically the phenomena of nucleoside modification in the maturation of transfer and ribosomal RNA. This process results in the generation of a rich mosaic of structurally modified nucleosides, and we're working to discover the biological roles of nucleoside modification, elucidate the biosynthetic pathways responsible for the formation of these fascinating molecules, and understand the biochemistry of the enzymes making up the pathways.

While the lab is especially interested in the enzymes of nucleoside modification as models to explore fundamental questions of enzyme catalysis and evolution, we are also investigating their potential as therapeutic targets and industrial biocatalysts.

GROUP NEWS

February 2010  Congratulations to Vimbai Chikwana, who's paper on the discovery of ArcS was accepted for publication in JBC and selected to be highlighted as a "Paper of the Week." Publication date April 23rd.

June 2009: Congratulations are in order for Vimbai Chikwana, who was awarded an inaugural William Paudler graduate fellowship, Kelly Chaçon, who was named the outstanding graduating senior from the Department of Chemistry, and Arjay Ercolani, who was named Analytical Chemistry Student of the year from the Department of Chemistry.

April 2009: Welcome to Ben Turner, who is joining the lab as a senior scientist. Ben received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Dundee in Scotland, and worked for several years on the characterization of the RNA K-turn with David Lilley before crossing the pond to the states.

March 2009: Congratulations to Xander Taylor for his successful grant application to the MJ Murdock Charitable Trust. Xander is a high school teacher at West Linn High School, and will be supported for 2 summers in the lab through the Partners in Science program beginning summer '09.

March 2009: Congratulations to Kelly Chaçon for her award of a NASA Oregon Space Grant Scholarship.

Past News...