This is a very important protein. Most living organisms on this planet could not survive if this protein didn't do its job. Your task for today is to identify the protein (1) and the species from which this particular protein was isolated (2). You also have to describe the function of this protein (3).
In addition you have to identify the Nobel Laureate who was awarded a Nobel Prize for—among other things—working out the structure of this protein. Note that the protein is a tetramer (quaternary structure) showing a nice example of a helix bundle.
The first person to correctly identify the protein, species, and function, and name the Nobel Laureate. wins a free lunch at the Faculty Club. Previous winners are ineligible for one month from the time they first collected the prize. There are two ineligible candidates for this week's reward.
THEME:
Nobel Laureates
Send your guess to Sandwalk (sandwalk (at) bioinfo.med.utoronto.ca) and I'll pick the first email message that correctly answers the questions and names the Nobel Laureate(s). Note that I'm not going to repeat Nobel Laureates so you might want to check the list of previous Sandwalk postings.
Correct responses will be posted tomorrow along with the time that the message was received on my server. I may select multiple winners if several people get it right.
UPDATE: We have a winner! Matthew Sekedat of Rockefeller University knew that this molecule was the potassium pump from the bacterium Streptomyces lividans. The protein is responsible for pumping potassium ions across the cell membrane. The Nobel Laureate is Roderick whose lab solved the structure of the protein.
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