# Biosynthesis of antifungal nucleoside antibiotics-Undergrad research supplement

> **NIH NIH R01** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $9,655

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
This administrative supplement will support a 10-week long research project for an undergraduate student. The
parent R01 projects aims to understand the biosynthesis of peptidyl nucleoside (PN) antifungal antibiotics that
are active against multiple pathogenic fungi and to discover novel antifungal agents using this knowledge. The
proposed summer research project focuses on the part of Aim 3 of the parent R01 involving the NikS amide
ligase enzyme. Specifically, the potential for use of NikS in the chemoenzymatic preparation of PNs will be
investigated. It is anticipated that the undergraduate student will purify NikS, chemically synthesize ~10 amino
acid substrate analogs of NikS and use the resulting compounds to test the substrate specificity and the potential
usage of NikS for chemoenzymatic preparation of unnatural PNs. This project will provide the student with
research experience in synthetic chemistry, bioorganic chemistry and enzymology as well as general knowledge
about antifungal antibiotics discovery, biosynthesis and development. Thus, the project will significantly extend
the research experience of the undergraduate student towards her goal of pursuing a biomedical research
career.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10393814
- **Project number:** 3R01GM115729-06S1
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Kenichi Yokoyama
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $9,655
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2015-07-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10393814

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10393814, Biosynthesis of antifungal nucleoside antibiotics-Undergrad research supplement (3R01GM115729-06S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10393814. Licensed CC0.

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