title: The use of structural modelling to infer structure and function in biocontrol agents.
abstract: Homology modelling can provide important insights into the structures of proteins when a related protein structure has already been solved. However, for many proteins, including a number of invertebrate-active toxins and accessory proteins, no such templates exist. In these cases, techniques of ab initio, template-independent modelling can be employed to generate models that may give insight into structure and function. In this overview, examples of both the problems and the potential benefits of ab initio techniques are illustrated. Consistent modelling results may indicate useful approximations to actual protein structures and can thus allow the generation of hypotheses regarding activity that can be tested experimentally.
authors: Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK. Electronic address: Berry@cf.ac.uk.
authors: Colin
authors: C
authors: Berry
authors: Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK.
authors: Jason
authors: J
authors: Board
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010572:Pest Control, Biological; D011487:Protein Conformation; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004731:Endotoxins
keywords: Bacillus thuringiensis; Insecticidal toxins; P20; PirB; Structural modelling