Our laboratory uses a variety of modern biochemical methods to elucidate problems in Biology.  One project studies how yersiniabactin, a siderophore of Yersinia pestis, the causitive agent of bubonic plague, is synthesized.  Yersiniabactin synthesis is required for virulence of the bacterium.  In particular our studies determine the catalytic mechanisms of the unusual enzymes in this biosynthetic pathway.  Not only do we uncover novel biochemistry in our work, but we also have an eye toward the development of new antibiotics based on inhibitors of the enzymes we study.  A second project studies the biochemical and genetic basis behind the competitive interactions between the beetle Stator limbatus and it tree seed prey.  The female beetle alters the composition of her egg to respond to a toxic substance present in some tree seeds.  The altered eggs produce larvae which overcome the presence of the toxic substance.  We are characterizing both the substance and the biochemical changes in the egg and beetle which allow increased survival of the larvae.  Other projects underway in the lab study enzymes and biochemical pathways unique to Archaea.  

• M. C. Miller, M. L. Rotondi, J. D. Fetherston, R. D. Perry, and E. DeMoll, "Enzymology of salicylate synthase, YbtS, of Yersinia pestis," in submission
• B. Stevenson, H. A. Choy, M. Pinne, M. L. Rotondi, M. C. Miller, E. DeMoll, P. Kraiczy, A. E. Cooley, T. P. Creamer, M. A. Suchard, C. A. Brissette, A. Verma, D. A. Haake, "Leptospira interrogans Endostatin-Like Outer Membrane Proteins Bind Host Fibronectin, Laminin and Regulators of Complement." PLoS ONE 2: (2007)  in press.
• E. DeMoll, D. J. Cox, E. Daniel and A. F. Riggs, “Apparent Specific Volume of Human Hemoglobin:  Effect of Ligand State and Contribution of Heme," Anal. Biochem. 363:196-203 (2007).
• M. C. Miller, S. Parkin, J. D. Fetherston, R. D. Perry and E. DeMoll, "Crystal structure of ferric-yersiniabactin, a virulence factor of Yersinia pestis," Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry 100:1495-1500 (2006).
• K. Babb, T. Bykowski, S. P. Riley, M. C. Miller, E. DeMoll and B. Stevenson, "Borrelia burgdorferi EbfC, a novel, chromosomally-encoded protein, binds specific DNA sequences adjacent to erp loci on the spirochete's resident cp32 prophages," J. Bacteriol. 188:4331-4339 (2006).
• D. A. Grahame, S. Gencic E. DeMoll, "A single operon-encoded form of the acetyl-CoA decarbonylase/synthase multienzyme complex responsible for synthesis and cleavage of acetyl-CoA in Methanosarcina thermophila," Arch. Microbiol. 184:32-40 ( 2005). 
• R. D. Perry, P. B. Balbo, H. A. Jones, J. D. Fetherston, and E. DeMoll, "Yersiniabactin from Yersinia pestis: biochemical characterization of the siderophore and its role in iron transport and regulation," Microbiology (Reading, U. K.) 145:1181-1190 (1999).
• A. M. Gehring, E. DeMoll, J. D. Fetherston, I. Mori, G. F. Mayhew, F. R. Blattner, C. T. Walsh, and R. D. Perry, "Iron acquisition in plague: modular logic in enzymic biogenesis of yersiniabactin by Yersinia pestis," Chem. Biol. 5:573-586 (1998).
• B. Bhaskar, E. DeMoll, and D. A. Grahame, "Redox-Dependent Acetyl Transfer Partial Reaction of the Acetyl-CoA Decarbonylase/Synthase Complex: Kinetics and Mechanism," Biochemistry 37:14491-14499 (1998).
• Y.-R. Dai, D. W. Reed, J. H. Millstein, P. L. Hartzell, D. A. Grahame, and E. DeMoll, "Acetyl-CoA decarbonylase/synthase complex from Archaeoglobus fulgidus," Arch. Microbiol. 169:525-529 (1998).
• D. A. Grahame, S. Khangulov, and E. DeMoll, "Reactivity of a Paramagnetic Enzyme-CO Adduct in Acetyl-CoA Synthesis and Cleavage," Biochemistry 35:593-600 (1996).
• D. A. Grahame and E. DeMoll, "Partial reactions catalyzed by protein components of the acetyl-CoA decarbonylase synthase enzyme complex from Methanosarcina barkeri," J. Biol. Chem. 271:8352-8 (1996).
• E. DeMoll. "Biotin and lipoic acid synthesis", in Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. Cellular and Molecular Biology, 2nd edition. Eds. F. C. Neidhardt, et al., American Society for Microbiology, Washington, D.C., pp. 704-709 (1996).