Heterologous expression is an important tool for functional characterization of proteins. However, expression in living organisms and subsequent purification often requires significant time and effort which can reduce the number of proteins to be characterized in a single experiment. I am proposing to obtain the reagents for expressing plant proteins using cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) powered by E. coli crude lysates. This platform would be able to produce 0.5-10 µg of protein in a single 15 µL reaction in 24 hr by simply adding plasmid/linear DNA to the reaction mix. I have years of experience working with CFPS from my doctoral work, but am looking for collaborators that have plant proteins of compelling interest that might be amenable to cell-free expression.
Contact Quentin Dudley (Quentin.Dudley@earlham.ac.uk) if you are interested in potentially collaborating.
Image: Cell-free expression of fluorescent protein and biosynthesis of violacein by Fernan Federici