Wei-Ting Liu:

Trifolitoxin (TFX) is a ribosomally synthesized, posttranslationally modified peptide antibiotic that inhibits a specific group of organisms within the a-proteobacteria, including some nitrogen fixing bacteria, plant pathogens caused gall crown disease and animal pathogens Brucella. Although TFX is an extremely small peptide with only eleven amino acids subject to PTMs, the structure and biosynthesis of TFX is still unknown. Thus my current project is adopting high accuracy tandem MS and capillary LC coupled tandem MS to delineate matured TFX structure and PTMs. Further goals are deciphering the biosynthesis mechanism and expanding TFX inhibiting activity screen to different groups of bacteria.