Thiamine and Thiamine-Pyrophosphate (TPP) Riboswitches: Volume 735

Franck CHARMANTRAY is a researcher in Biocatalysis at the CNRS. He carries out his research work at the Institute of Chemistry in Clermont-Ferrand (ICCF, UMR6296, Clermont Auvergne University, France). In 2001, he obtained a PhD in medicinal chemistry focusing on << A new family of DNA intercalating-alkylating agents >> under the supervision of Dr. M. Demuynck, Grenoble 1 University, France. He then changed his research theme to focus on Studies on Homocitrate Synthase and other Lysine Pathway Enzymes during a postdoctoral internship funded by a BBRSC Fellowship, and carried out under the supervision of Prof. D. Young, at the University of Sussex, Brighton, UK. He returned to France to carry out a 2-year industrial postdoctoral internship in Biocatalysis financed by Laboratoires Fournier and which focused on the chemoenzymatic synthesis of antithrombotics. He was then recruited at the ICCF as a CNRS researcher in 2004. His research themes concern Biocatalysis, and in particular the study and optimization of transketolase by in vitro evolution for the synthesis of rare sugars and analogues in particular. He works in close collaboration with Dr. Bastien Doumeche with whom he recently developed an electrochemical screening for microbial transketolase inhibitors identification. Claude Bernard Lyon 1 and ICBMS (Institut de Chimie et Biochimie Moleculaires et Supramoleculaires, UMR 5246 CNRS, France).After biochemistry and biology studies in Rouen (France), he obtained a master degree in Amiens on a biocatalysis topic, followed by a PhD at the RWTH-Aachen university (Germany) working on immobilized enzymes in two-phase systems under Prof. W. Hartemeier supervision. He joined the group of Dr. Rolland Furstoss and Dr. Alain Archelas at the CNRS in Marseille (France) for a post-doc on multi-gram scale biocatalysis using epoxide hydrolases. After a two-years temporary associate professor position at the university of Cergy-Pontoise (France) with Prof. Veronique Larreta-Garde on sol-gel transitions of protein-polysaccharides mixtures catalysed by enzymes, he became a lecturer at the University Lyon 1in 2006 where he developed original research in heterogeneous biocatalysis (ionic liquids) and more recently electrochemical screening assays using screen-printed electrodes for oxidoreductases (dehydrogenases, oxidases, laccases) and transketolases in collaboration with Dr. Franck Charmantray.