Research

We study anaerobic metabolic pathways for unusual substrates. Main interests are the molecular mechanisms and structure-function studies of metalloenzymes and the utilization of metabolic modules for designing novel synthetic pathways. A major focus of our research are the pathways of anaerobic hydrocarbon degradation.

In particular, we investigate the anaerobic degradation pathways of toluene, ethylbenzene, and indoleacetate. The former two are initiated by the glycyl-radical enzyme benzylsuccinate synthase and the molybdoenzyme ethylbenzene dehydrogenase, respectively. We also investigate the mechanisms of novel carboxylases for acetone, acetophenone and phenol, as well as the mechanism and maturation pathway of bacterial tungstoenzymes.