Research interest

My main research interest is DNA repair, in particular Base Excision Repair (BER). In order to provide new information to this field I use an integrated structural biology approach and study BER enzymes from a wide range of organisms including the extremely radiation and desiccation resistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans, the fish pathogen Aliivibrio salmonicida, the human pathogen Vibrio cholera, Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and human.

The majority of my enzymes originate from D. radiodurans, which tolerates 200 times higher radiation doses than other microorganisms without losing viability. The mechanism behind the high radiation resistance is not known but is probably a result of the dual resistance (radiation and desiccation) and a combination of highly efficient DNA repair machinery, a densly packed genome and cell wall. The genome possesses an unusual high number of BER enzymes compared to other microorganisms, thus I also aim to provide insights into the role of the BER machinery for the high radiation resistance of this organism.

The crystal structures I have determined of DNA repair proteins are displayed and descibed in more detail here.

I also work in the field of marine biotechnology, and have for many years performed structural and biochemical studies of enzymes from cold marine environments with commercial potential.