Flexible Peptoids: Bioactivity in biofouling, aquaculture and marine communities

Project Description

In estuaries, sounds and coastal oceans chemicals signals coordinate life or death behaviors including, maternal care, larval settlement, breeding aggregations and location of important resources like new shells for hermit crabs and oyster reefs. Short sequences of protein, peptides generated by enzymes that cut proteins after specific amino acids are common cues and pheromones across many phyla. The goals of this project are to determine if peptoids of similar sequences can mimic peptoiods and if peptoids can be degraded by the mixtures of hydrolytic enzymes associated with individual animals and communities. We will compare native peptides with their peptiod equivalents. Results of this study could have impacts on environments and human health as similar peptides function as hormones.

Instruments