Jürgen Lassak

This paper reprograms a protein ligase into a functional aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase, enabling the incorporation of non-canonical amino acids and post-translational modifications into proteins.

The paper identifies PatA, GabT, and IlvE as transaminases involved in CML and CM-Cad metabolism in E. coli, revealing a branched pathway and novel metabolites.

The paper shows that the enzyme SpeC in enterobacteria degrades Nε-modified lysine derivatives, producing biogenic amines and enabling microbial utilization of these compounds as nitrogen sources.

The paper shows that E. faecalis evolves to metabolize fructoselysine, reducing S. Typhimurium colonization by limiting a key nutrient.

This study identifies EfpL as a ribosome rescue factor that senses cellular metabolic state, complementing EF-P in proline-containing sequence translation.