The presence of enriched stable isotope contents in proteins, coupled with sophisticated 2D and 3D nuclear magnetic resonance techniques enables a rapid and easy determination of amino acid sequence and protein structure. Glycerol is often used as the sole carbon source for the growth of genetically modified bacteria that overproduce particular proteins, and in the presence of labelled glycerol the proteins will be labelled. Deuterated glycerol and l3C-glycerol are commercially available, but high cost and uncertain availability limit their widespread usage. The goal of this research is to study the production and determine the economic feasibility of producing l3C- and 2H-glycerol. They propose to produce isotopically labelled glycerol biologically from the photosynthetic microalgae Dunaliella salina, an organism widely reported to produce up to 50 percent of its biomass as glycerol. For the production of deuterated glycerol, D. salina will be grown in D2-0 (heavy water). They also plan to chemically synthesize economics of chemical synthesis to those of biological production. Success in achieving this goal will lay the groundwork for the development of stable isotopically labelled compounds that will be vital for the elucidation of protein structures.
