Catálogo de Investigaciones | 2011-2012

49 Catálogo de Investigaciones | Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico Structural and functional bioinformatics analysis of proteins from Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus Huanglongbing (HLB) greening disease damages citrus crops costing millions of dollars to the citrus sector in Asia, Brazil, Mexico, the United States, and Puerto Rico, among many countries. The disease is caused by the proteobacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus transmitted by the Asian citrus psyllid ( Diaphorina citri Kuwayama ). The HLB mechanisms of interaction with citrus plants are not well understood and there are no therapies to prevent or cure the disease. Interestingly, the genome of Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus contains five von Willebrand factor proteins, each having multiple gene copies, that are thought to be potential virulence factor. Von Willebrand factor proteins are extracellular glycoproteins essential for homeostasis. Moreover, there are several uncharacterized putative proteins. The goal of this investigation is to predict the structure and function these proteins to better understand the proteobacterium’s pathogenecity, and perform computational ligand-binding studies that may aid structure-based drug design. gabriel r. méndez y luis rosa mentor dra. mónica m. arroyo c. liberibacter asiaticus citrus greening disease bioinformatics structural biochemistry biotechnology