About me

I completed a BSc in Biology at the University of York (2014-17). In the final year of my degree, I undertook a research project examining interactions between components of the genome the segregation machinery in thermophilic archaea. This piqued my interest in studying enzymes involved in archaeal replication at the single-molecule level.

My project

Minichromosome maintenance (MCM) proteins are central to DNA replication in both Archaea
and Eukaryotes, coupling ATP hydrolysis and conformational change to generate unwinding of dsDNA
ahead of the replication fork. Mutations in Eukaryotic MCM subunits have been implicated in a number of
hereditary diseases. Archaeal homohexameric MCM has served as a faithful model system for structurally
and biochemically characterizing MCM, compared to the Eukaryotic heterohexameric counterpart. Studies
have revealed much about key MCM features, however, little is known about single-molecule behaviour.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) MinION sequencer generates highly parallel, single-
molecule data, attributable to helicase behaviours, such as step-size, processivity and velocity. We
would like to determine whether or not the activity of MCMs can be measured in a MinION flow cell.

We have utilised a series of fluorescent-based biochemical techniques to rapidly characterize a
number of MCM orthologues and mutants under flow cell-like conditions. From our screens, we have
identified key strengths and weaknesses in our enzymes to tailor production of an MCM that can tolerate
the thermal and chemical conditions of MinION flow cell.

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