B. Kolaczkowski

Ancestral protein reconstruction reveals evolutionary events governing variation in Dicer helicase function

This study uses ancestral protein reconstruction to show that vertebrate Dicer lost ATP hydrolysis function due to reduced dsRNA affinity, not just active site mutations.

Reconstruction of nitrogenase predecessors suggests origin from maturase-like proteins

This study reconstructs the evolutionary origins of nitrogenase enzymes, suggesting they evolved from maturase-like proteins rather than the other way around.

Direct molecular evidence for an ancient, conserved developmental toolkit controlling post-transcriptional gene regulation in land plants

This study identifies an ancient and conserved HYL1-DCL1 interaction critical for miRNA production and plant development, showing its evolutionary origin predates moss-seed plant divergence.

Physical constrains and functional plasticity of cellulases: Linear scaling relationships for a heterogeneous enzyme reaction

The paper characterizes 83 cellulases, revealing a linear free energy relationship between substrate binding strength and activation barrier, suggesting physical constraints and evolutionary optimization in interfacial enzyme catalysis.

Reconstructing the Evolutionary History of Nitrogenases: Evidence for Ancestral Molybdenum-Cofactor Utilization

This study reconstructs the evolutionary history of nitrogenases, finding that ancient nitrogenases likely used molybdenum cofactors, with implications for early biogeochemical cycles.