Dr. Walsh is an outstanding and highly productive researcher who uses a broad integrated approach that includes genetics, protein and carbohydrate chemistry, mechanistic enzymology, molecular biology and X-ray crystallography to elucidate and exploit the pathways for natural antibiotic synthesis. This body of work not only defines pathways for antibiotic synthesis, the molecular targets of antibiotic action, and the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, but also serves as a platform for the synthesis of novel antibiotics. Dr. Walsh is also an accomplished mentor who has provided rigorous and insightful training for many younger scientists.
In his Frtiz Lipmann Lecture, he will focus on his research on nonribosomal peptide synthetases and the building and tailoring of peptide natural products. A large variety of biologically active peptide natural products are biosynthesized by the nonribosomal peptide synthetases. These synthetases act in assembly lines to carry out initiation, elongation, and termination reactions. Once released from these assembly lines, the peptides are often tailored by enzymes that glycosylate, oxygenate, and halogenate. Dr. Walsh will discuss some examples that illustrate the molecular logic of the enzymatic assembly lines and the tailoring enzymes.
The Fritz Lipmann Lectureship was established by friends and colleagues of Fritz Lipmann. Previous awardees include Roddrick MacKinnon, Ulrich Hartl, James E. Rothman, Helmut Beinert, and Wayne A. Hendrickson. The re
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Contact: Nicole Kresge
nkresge@asbmb.org
301-634-7415
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
8-Feb-2005