We use data-mining techniques to find amino acid sequences and tertiary structures of members of the eight enzyme groups that make up the fatty acid/polyketide synthesis cycle and include them in a major database called ThYme (Thioester-active enzYmes). We arrange these members into families unrelated to each other by sequence similarity. We group families into clans related by tertiary structure and mechanism. Furthermore, we divide families into subfamilies by differences in their sequences. This allows an intimate understanding how enzymes produced by different organisms having the same substrate specificities are related to each other.
Peter Reilly’s other chemical engineering project
