Molecular machines in energy transduction, cellular signaling and defense processes

Since this BAG is composed of seven different working groups from three different locations (university of Cologne, university of Bochum, university of Düsseldorf), the projects for this proposal are of rather heterogeneous nature. Nonetheless, we are focusing on 5 main topics: 1.) proteins involved in transport processes, transporters or channels, either embedded in the membrane or acting in the cytosol (e.g. ABC transporters, fusion proteins, regulators) 2.) proteins involved in the immune system, pathogen invasion or defense/resistance processes (dehydratases, toxins, binding proteins) 3.) proteins involved or associated with diseases like cancer or developmental disorders (e.g. protein kinase, toxins, antibodies) 4.) enzymes of putative industrial use to encounter increasing environmental pollution (e.g. transaminases, estereases) 5.) proteins involved in light harvesting, photosynthesis (C3/C4 pathways) and chromophore binding proteins (e.g. synthases, photosensor domains)