The department is well resourced to carry out the following activities:
- Cloning genes and expressing proteins with Escherichia coli and other expression systems such as plant viruses - A full range of contemporary microbiology and molecular biology facilities are available, including central media kitchen provision and a continuous cell disruptor
- Purifying proteins using KTA FPLC and HPLC systems
- Characterising and engineering enzymes and other proteins
- Comprehensive biochemistry facilities such as uv-visible-ir spectrophotometry, microtitre plate readers (uv-visible and fluorescence), HPLC, GC, radiochemistry laboratories and cold rooms, with access to ultracentrifugation and phosphorimaging
- Protein X-Ray crystallography, including crystallisation robot and diffractometer
- Biacore T100 and X surface plasmon resonance spectrometers for biomolecular interaction analysis
- MALDI-TOF and Q-TOF electrospray mass spectrometry for protein and small molecule analysis
- Stopped-flow uv/visible diode array and fluorescence spectroscopies and rapid chemical quench for monitoring reactions on the ms timescale
- Chemical and/or enzymatic synthesis and analysis of substrates, inhibitors and biological probes
- Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (400 & 600 MHz) for structural analysis of small and macro molecules, whether natural products or of synthetic origin
- Electron paramagnetic resonance (continuous wave X and Q-band) and electron-nuclear double resonance spectroscopies for studying the environment of metal centres and organic radicals in biomolecules
- Easy access to other facilities within the John Innes Centre such as omics technologies addressing systems-wide analyses of small molecules, RNA and proteins together with computational biology addressing issues such as ligand-protein interactions, inhibitor design and homology modelling through to the dissection of biological signalling networks
