Why we study

Why do we study

Our interests cover the microbial responses against the cytotoxic effects of oxygen and reactive oxidative and/or nitrosative species, generated as a defence mechanism by the immune systems of eukaryotes facing pathogenic invasion. In this sense, if the target proteins of our interest - superoxide reductases, rubrerythrins and flavodiiron oxygen/nitric oxide reductases – are established as major components of the pathogenic counter-response mechanisms, our final goal is to understand how pathogenic organisms survive in the host environment. Also, many microbes are part of the human microbiome, and/or are evolutionary related to modern eukaryotes, i.e., by studying microbial enzymes we gather knowledge of the metabolome of higher organisms.

We aim also to an understanding of the evolutionary events that determine variability in the components of multi-enzymatic systems and their functional and structural features, in detoxifying enzymes for reactive oxidative/nitrosative species. From periodic analysis of the genomic databases, we have been establishing in silico novel examples of these enzymes, evidencing their modular nature, starting from what has been called “the Lego constructing Kit” of complex metalloenzymes. We thus contribute also to the elucidation of the metalloproteins world, in the field of BioInorganic Chemistry.