Structure-function relationships in proteins and ribonucleoproteins

Housed in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Alabama, the Dunkle Research Group is using biochemical and structural biology methods, such as x-ray crystallography, SAXS and EM to study enzyme structure and function. We are particularly interested in the role of RNA in expressing and regulating genetic information.

For information about current research projects, check out our Research Page.

Recent News

• Southeast Enzyme Conference 2022May 6, 2022
  The Dunkle Group attended the 2022 edition of the Southeast Enzyme Conference on the campus of Georgia State University in Atlanta. Sarah, Danielle and Johnny presented posters on recent research and Sarah took home a prize for her poster: Identifying the tolerance of CRISPR-Cas10 to mismatches in the crRNA-target duplex. Pictured above, are the University of…Continue Reading Southeast Enzyme Conference 2022
• New Dunkle group publication on similarities between ErmC and ErmEDecember 18, 2020
  Erythromycin resistance methyltransferase (Erm) enzymes are a clinically important mechanism of multi-drug antibiotic resistance rendering bacteria resistant to macrolide, lincosamide and ketolide antibiotics. Whether or not all Erm enzymes bind to their rRNA substrate in a similar manner is an outstanding question. A new publication from the Dunkle group titled “Shared requirements for key residues in the…Continue Reading New Dunkle group publication on similarities between ErmC and ErmE
• 2019 Biochemistry publication among most citedDecember 11, 2020
  A recent research article from the Dunkle group ‘Structural evidence for dimer-interface driven regulation of the type II cysteine desulfurase, SufS’ was listed among the most cited mechanistic enzymology articles appearing in the journal Biochemistry (published by the American Chemical Society) in 2019. Here’s the link. Research on the Suf pathway for iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis is performed…Continue Reading 2019 Biochemistry publication among most cited
• Undergraduate researcher, Caroline Yuk, wins Marshall Scholarship to pursue grad studies at Oxford UniversityDecember 10, 2020
  Caroline Yuk, an undergraduate researcher in the Dunkle group and UA Neuroscience major, is one of the 2020 recipients of the Marshall Scholarship. Caroline was among the 46 U.S. students chosen in 2020 and will complete two years of graduate studies in the United Kingdom working toward her goal of becoming a medical researcher. Link to…Continue Reading Undergraduate researcher, Caroline Yuk, wins Marshall Scholarship to pursue grad studies at Oxford University
• Seminar at Ohio StateNovember 4, 2019
  Jack presented a seminar to the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Ohio State University on the group’s recent CRISPR-Cas10 research and toured the beautiful campus….Continue Reading Seminar at Ohio State