title: Reconstructing evolutionary adaptive paths for protein engineering.
abstract: Reconstructing Evolutionary Adaptive Paths (REAP) is one of several methods to improve enzyme -functionality. This approach incorporates computational and theoretical aspects of protein engineering to create a focused library of protein variety with a high degree of functionality. In contrast to other -techniques like DNA shuffling, REAP allows a library to have diverse functionality among relatively few variants. REAP is a low-throughput method which takes advantage of natural selection and uses ancestral protein sequences to direct gene mutations, thereby creating a library with a high density of viable proteins. These proteins must then be assayed to characterize their functionality to identify which variants have the desired traits such as acid stability or thermostability.
authors: School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors: Megan F
authors: MF
authors: Cole
authors: Vanessa E
authors: VE
authors: Cox
authors: Kelsey L
authors: KL
authors: Gratton
authors: Eric A
authors: EA
authors: Gaucher
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D004798:Enzymes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015202:Protein Engineering / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D004798:Enzymes