Project Title: STUDIES ON GENE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION: CLONING, SEQUENCING, EXPRESSION AND MODIFICATION OF SELECTED GENES FROM BACTERIA AND FUNGI

Molecular biotechnology has become the core technology for many areas of research and application in biotechnology. It has been developed from research in molecular biology on the investigation on living processes at the gene and protein levels. This project will study the structure and function of several selected genes from bacteria and fungi which are of interest in animal and plant diseases and industrial biotechnology.

The studies will involve cloning and sequencing of the genes, identification of their structural and regulatory elements, and prediction of the amino acid sequence of the corresponding proteins. The cloned genes will be expressed and the product investigated via molecular and biochemical techniques to define their functional domains. The results will contribute towards further understanding of the structure and function of proteins of the type chosen for these studies.

The project will enhance the present expertise in gene cloning and sequencing and will develop new expertise in optimization of expression and production of recombinant proteins in bacteria and yeasts. The studies on functional domains will build up expertise on protein modification and engineering. The project is a collaborative effort by 10 principal researchers in biochemistry, microbiology and molecular biology from UKM, USM and UPM. As a group, the researchers have the necessary expertise and experience to execute the project. The participating laboratories have adequate and complementary facilities for studies of genes and proteins. At the appropriate times, reputable researchers in molecular biology from established research institutions abroad will be invited to review the progress and direction of the project.