User:Marco Moracci

I’m senior researcher and group leader of the italian CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche), and I’m working at the Institute of Protein Biochemistry (IBP) in Naples, Italy. I have also a contract as Professor of Enzymology at the Faculty of Biotechnology of the Università di Napoli “Federico II”.

I’m an enzymologist and I started my studies at the University of Naples working on a malic enzyme from the archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus under the supervision of Mosè Rossi. I have been post-doc under the supervision of Alan Fersht at the Department of Chemistry in the University of Cambridge, working on protein folding and then I went into CAZymes by studying the reaction mechanism of GH1 glycosidases from hyperthermophiles. My research interests are focused on the understanding of the mechanicistic aspects of the enzymatic recognition, hydrolysis, and synthesis of glycosides. Studied enzymes include glycoside hydrolases, glycosyltransferases and glycosynthases. In addition, we are now approaching glycobiology and glycomics of archaea. I’ve been chair of the 8th Carbohydrate Bioengineering Meeting that was held in Ischia (Naples) on 10-13 May 2009.