To begin with, here’s a photo of me, Esther Van Praag, having an interesting discussion with a camel:
I live actually in Switzerland, but have resided in several different countries during my biology studies. Indeed, I have lived a couple of years in the Netherlands, while being student at the Rijks-University of Leiden in the Netherlands and later went to live a few years in Israel, in order to do a Ph.D. at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Rehovot, Israel). I am now involved in a research project at the Institute for Plant Biology (University of Zurich, Switzerland) about hydrogenase and bio-remediation. Interested in more detailed information about me ? Just click here.
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Up to now, my research dealt with the regulation of the carbohydrate |
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metabolism in plant tissues. The effects of varying environmental conditions (light, temperature) were studied, with particular emphasis on a specific regulatory sugar: Fru-2,6-P2. Indeed, great variations in the level of this molecule can be observed (references 2, 4, 5, 7). |
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Kinetic studies of several enzymes (PPi-PFK, ATP-PFK and FBPase) were further studied in grapefruit fruit. These 3 enzymes catalyze a key-reaction of the carbohydrate metabolism and are regulated by Fru-2,6-P2. The effect of several inhibitory molecules were also studied (references 1, 6).
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The obtained results led to the construction of a 3-D computer model of potato through homology modeling, in order to understand more precisely the role played by Fru-2,6-P2 (reference 3). The model of PFP was constructed in collaboration with the Weizmann Institute for Science Israel). More details about the model of PFP, the binding sites for the substrates and the effector can be found at: |
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Are you interested in getting more details about this work ?
Here are the references:
1. R. Degli Agosti, E. van Praag and H. Greppin (1992) Effect of chloride ions on the kinetic parameters of the potato tuber and mung bean pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructokinase. Biochem. Int. 26:707-713. (See Summary).
2. E. van Praag, D. Monod, H. Greppin and R. Degli Agosti (1997) Response of the carbohydrate metabolism and Fru-2,6-P2 to environmental changes. Effect of different light treatments. Bot. Helvetica 106:103-112. (see Summary).
3. E. van Praag (1997) Use of 3-D computer modeling and kinetic studies to analyze grapefruit pyrophoshate-dependent phosphofructokinase. Int. J. Biol. Macromol. 21: 307.317. (see Summary).
4. E. van Praag, A. Brune, P. Gonzalez, R. Goren, U. Zehavi and E. Echeverria (1998) Fru-2,6-P2 and citrate: intracellular distribution in citrus tissues and effect on grapefruit leaf PFP. Biochem. Mol. Biol. Int., in press. (see Summary).
5. E. van Praag and R. Degli Agosti (1997) Response of fructose 2,6-bisphophate to environmental changes. Effect of low temperature in winter and summer wheat. Arch. Sciences 50: 207-215. (see Summary)
6. E. van Praag (1997) Kinetic properties of cytosolic fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase from grapefruit. Effect of citrate. Biochem. Mol. Biol. Int. 43: 625-631. (see Summary)
7. R. Degli Agosti and E. van Praag (1998) Response of Fru-2,6-P2 to environmental changes. Modeling of the effect of low non-freezing temperatures. In preparation.
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TO CONTACT SOME OF THE AUTORS |
Scientific research is not all in my life, there are hobbies too.
The main one is living with two rabbits: Sniffy and Grijsje.
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Hi, I am Sniffy, a Dutch rabbit. I was born on August, 1st 1992, and when I arrived in my actual family, I started to smell the place all over. That is why I got the name Sniffy. During my life I have lived in different countries and in different houses. My preferred living-place is definitively a garden and a balcony, where I can cut some flowers, eat some grass, dig some holes and take a nap in the sun ! |
And I am Grijsje, a big gray rabbit. I was born someday end of February 1994. I was very tiny when I joined Sniffy, but with good care I grew and grew very big. Sniffy and me had some fight in the begin, but now we are not able to miss each other for longer periods of time. My beloved place is also the balcony, where I can listen to the singing birds and cut off the nice flowers for Esther. |
Here we are together on the balcony, in our home in Zurich:
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More pictures of us can
be seen at:
http://www.eng.fsu.edu/~burdick/hp/esther.html
and our photographer’s
page is at:
http://www1.cern.ch/HSI/hsi/people/arie.htm
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I like also much horses, horse-riding and drawing, and sometimes it is possible to |
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combine all these hobbies together. Drawing while listening to classic music is also very pleasant, especially with baroque music from J.-P. Rameau, Charpentier, Monteclair or Teleman. |
There are a few other hobbies, but that will be for a next time.
Thanks for the visit !
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21 April |
1998 |
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