Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Evolution réductive'
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Batut, Bérénice. "Étude de l'évolution réductive des génomes bactériens par expériences d'évolution in silico et analyses bioinformatiques." Thesis, Lyon, INSA, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014ISAL0108/document.
Full textGiven a popular view, evolution is an incremental process based on an increase of molecular complexity of organisms. However, some organisms have undergo massive genome reduction like the endosymbionts. In this case the reduction can be explained by the Muller’s ratchet due to the endosymbiont lifestyle with small population and lack of recombination. However, in some marine bacteria, like Prochlorococcus et Pelagibacter, lineage have undergo up to 30% of genome reduction. Their lifestyle is almost the opposite to the one of the endosymbionts and reductive genome evolution can not be easily explicable by the Muller’s ratchet. Some other hypothesis has been proposed but none can explain all the observed genomic characteristics. In the thesis, I am interested in the reductive evolution of Prochlorococcus. I used two approaches: a theoretical one using simulation where different scenarios are tested and an analysis of Prochlorococcus genomes in a phylogenetic framework to determine the causes and characteristics of genome reduction. The combination of these two approaches allows to propose an hypothetical evolutive history for the reductive genome evolution of Prochlorococcus
Auriol, Clement. "Compréhension globale de l'évolution in vivo d'Escherichia coli lors de cultures sous contraintes de rapports NADPH/NADP+ artificiellement élevés." Thesis, Toulouse, INSA, 2011. http://www.theses.fr/2011ISAT0038/document.
Full textBacterial metabolism is characterized by robustness and plasticity that allow it to adjust too many metabolic perturbations. This present work demonstrates Escherichia coli abilities of evolution and adaptation under stress of NADPH accumulation. We constructed the E. coli MG1655 Δpgi::FRT ΔudhA::FRT Δedd::FRT Δqor::FRT strain where central metabolism has been rationally engineered to produce two mol of NADPH and two mol of NADH during the oxidation of glucose to acetyl-CoA, while a wild-type strain produces 4 mol of NADH per mole of glucose. Consequently, this strain presents a weak growth on glucose mineral medium. So as to evaluate bacterial abilities to overcome such metabolic stress, in vivo evolution of this strain has been forced in laboratory by serial transfer subcultures. After four evolution subcultures, an individual clone has been characterized by a six fold increased growth rate compared to non-evolved strain. CGS (Comparative Genome Sequencing) analysis allowed us to correlate growth improvement with one mutation apparition in respiratory complex: NuoF*(E183A) in NuoF subunit from the NADH dependant complex I. Further biochemical and physiological studies demonstrated that the evolved respiratory complex is able to oxidize both NADH and NADPH, resulting in a new NADPH reoxydation pathway in the cell. In vivo evolution experiments were then continued until eleven subcultures, where a new individual clone has been characterized by an eleven fold increased growth rate compared to non-evolved strain. Additional CGS analysis allowed us to correlate growth improvement with apparition of two mutations: NuoF*(E183A) and another mutation within the RNA polymerase alpha subunit, rpoA*. Thus, a second E. coli MG1655 ΔpfKA::FRT ΔpfKB::FRT ΔudhA::FRT Δedd::FRT Δqor::FRT strain has been rationally engineered to produce three mol of NADPH and one mole of NADH per mole of glucose oxidized to acetyl-coA. As this train was unable to growth in liquid glucose mineral medium, we performed a solid-state screening on glucose mineral medium that led to two different types of NuoF mutations in strains having recovered growth capacity. In addition to the previously seen E183A mutation other clones showed an E183G mutation, both having NADH and NADPH oxidizing ability. This result highlights need of this new NADPH reoxydation pathway for NADPH accumulating cells. This solution creates a new function for NADPH that is no longer restricted to anabolic synthesis reactions but can now be also used to directly produce catabolic energy. Finally, global understanding of evolution process allowed conception of new engineered strains, well designed for NADPH dependant production of chemicals of interest
El, Abdouni Hamid. "Evolution de la texture critallographique des oxydes de fer en cours de réduction." Metz, 1986. http://docnum.univ-lorraine.fr/public/UPV-M/Theses/1986/El_Abdouni.Hamid.SMZ8613.pdf.
Full textRambaud, Caroline. "Evolution et caractérisation de la nitrate réductase au cours de l'embryogenèse somatique chez Daucus carota L." Lille 1, 1986. http://www.theses.fr/1986LIL10132.
Full textQouiyd, Siham. "Relations Maroc - Union Européenne : Evolution historique et répercussions socio-spatiales." Cergy-Pontoise, 2008. http://biblioweb.u-cergy.fr/theses/08CERG0400.pdf.
Full textThis research work deals with the evolution of exchange policies between the European Union and countries of the south Mediterranean and particularly between the EU and Morocco. Do these changes contribute to the diminution of socio-spatial inequalities? Or, they enforced these inequalities by giving privilege to certain precise regions or segments of the social and economic life in Morocco? A historical overview was indispensable in order to study the evolution of these changes and their socio-spatial impact on the Moroccan territory. This thesis consists of two major parts. The first part deals with the determinants of the cooperation and the second part treat the realization of this cooperation. A precise report is accomplished in order to highlight the insufficiencies and point to malfunctioning issues
Keyvanshokouhi, Kardan Saba. "Projecting the evolution of soil due to global change." Thesis, Aix-Marseille, 2018. http://www.theses.fr/2018AIXM0072.
Full textSoil is a critical natural resource that inherently changes through time. To preserve the soil and protect it, it is necessary to predict the consequences of human activities and global change on soil evolution. This can be achieved using soil evolution modelling. In this study, we demonstrated the sensitivity of SoilGen to climate, land use and tillage reduction and identified three of its main limitations, namely some over-simplified processes, some missing processes and a simplifying assumption of constant soil volume. To overcome these limitations, we 1) built up the first fully modular soil evolution model, OC-VGEN, by using the process of SoilGen2.24 model in a modelling platform, VSoil; 2) tested different formalisms for some of the key processes responsible for the OC depth distribution, namely the root depth distribution, bioturbation and the depth evolution of the OC decomposition rate; 3) proposed a first, mechanistic approach to account for soil volume change in a short to medium time scale soil evolution modelling. OC-VGEN was used to reproduce and project the depth distribution of OC at a century time scale for Luvisols having experienced different histories of land use and tillage. We demonstrated that, at this time scale, 1) the impact of feedback processes on OC depth distribution are not negligible; 2) land use and tillage, beside their direct impact on the input of organic matter to soil, influence the internal feedbacks leading to an indirect impact on OC dynamics; 3) when projecting soil evolution, the lack of knowledge on the process definition has a larger influence on the projected trajectories than uncertainties on climate or land use scenarios
Ben, Rekhissa Hajer. "Réduction de la consommation énergétique dans les modules M2M utilisant la technologie LTE/LTE-A." Thesis, Université Côte d'Azur (ComUE), 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019AZUR4085.
Full textMachine-to-Machine (M2M) communication, which refers to the interaction between intelligent devices without human intervention, is gaining more prominence in mobile cellular networks. Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) networks are considered excellent candidates to support M2M communication. However, M2M communication over LTE/LTE-A networks faces some challenges. The main challenge is how to reduce energy consumption for M2M devices, as the majority of them are battery driven. The aim of this thesis is to propose solutions to reduce energy consumption in M2M devices over LTE/LTE-A technologies. We proposed two approaches; the first one consists of increasing time spent in low power mode by buffering data until reaching given thresholds of number of buffered data and maximum delay authorized. This approach allows to reduce signaling from idle state to connected state. Besides, it considers quality of service (QoS) requirements. The second approach consists of proposing two uplink schedulers which take into account the coexistence of M2M and Human-to-Human (H2H) devices. Both of them consider channel quality while allocating resource blocks, which have a consequence reducing energy consumption in M2M devices. Our second algorithm consider, also, delay constraint
Deroite, Amandine. "Bases génétiques et réduction de la production d’acide acétique chez des hybrides Saccharomyces cerevisiae X Saccharomyces kudriavzevii en fermentation œnologique." Thesis, Montpellier, SupAgro, 2018. http://www.theses.fr/2018NSAM0043.
Full textInterspecific Saccharomyces hybrids isolated from various fermental media combine the properties of their parents, such as the fermentative performance of S. cerevisiae and the cryotolerance or aroma production of the other parent. This is the case of cryotolerant S. cerevisiae X S. kudriavzevii hybrids used in the fermentation of white wines, among which the Eg8 family also has the capacity to release high concentrations of varietal thiols. However, these hybrids have the disadvantage of sometimes producing excessive amounts of acetic acid, compromising the quality of the wines. The aim of this work was to understand the environmental causes and genetic bases of the high acetic acid production of the Eg8 family strains and to reduce this production by a directed evolution approach. We first showed, by studying the combined effects of 3 parameters (temperature, lipids, sugars) using a Box Behnken experimental design that the lipid concentration modulates both the production of acetic acid and thiols. A comparative genomic study then revealed several factors that may explain their high acetic acid production. The origin of the S. cerevisiae part of these strains is, for example, a flor yeast, which is known to produce more acetic acid than S. cerevisiae strains of other origins. A transcriptomic study (RNAseq) conducted on two strains producing different levels of acetic acid then revealed a less efficient regulation of lipid metabolism by the high producer compared to the low producer. On the basis of these results, we implemented a directed evolution approach to develop low acetic acid production strains. Using lipid limitation as a selection pressure, we obtained evolved strains with reduced acetic acid production under different oenological conditions, while maintaining equivalent thiol release. One of these strains is currently being tested at pilot scale
Chichaoui, Ilhame. "Expériences concernant l'évolution chimique des alcaloïdes : des structures pyridiniques aux structures pyrrolidiniques." Rouen, 1993. http://www.theses.fr/1993ROUES039.
Full textFilimonenkov, Ivan. "Electrocatalyse de la réduction de l’oxygène et de l’oxydation de l’eau par des oxydes de métaux de transition : cas des pérovskites de Mn et Co." Thesis, Strasbourg, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019STRAF072.
Full textA study of electrocatalysis of oxygen reduction (ORR) and oxygen evolution (OER) reactions is closely related with a development of cathodic and anodic materials for fuel cells and elec-trolyzers. An objective of this thesis is to develop and investigate Mn, Co-oxide-based elec-trode materials active and stable in both the ORR and OER. Relationships between electro-chemical characteristics of perovskite/carbon compositions and properties of their compo-nents are stated and experimentally substantiated in the thesis. It is found a corrosion re-sistance of carbon materials under OER conditions is influenced not only by their crystalline order, but also by their intrinsic OER activity. It is shown the ORR and OER activity of Mn, Co-based perovskites linearly depends on the number of rechargeable Mn and Co cations, respectively. It is revealed a reversible oxygen intercalation through a crystal structure of Co-based perovskites occurs under OER conditions as well as at lower potentials
Moureaux, Florian. "Etude des réactions mettant en jeu l'oxygène dans un système électrochimique lithium-air aqueux rechargeable électriquement." Phd thesis, Université de Grenoble, 2011. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00947541.
Full textJules, Samuel. "Vieillissement de joints brasés pour l’électronique de puissance : caractérisation métallurgique et simulation numérique du comportement mécanique." Thesis, Paris, ENMP, 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015ENMP0018/document.
Full textThe new mechatronic technologies can significantly reduce the energy consumption and gas emissions of personal cars, by introducing rupture innovations in electrified powertrains complementarily or alternatively to combustion engines. The power electronics assemblies used in starter-alternator systems use solder joints which need to be substituted with lead-free solder in agreements with international standards. This thesis contributes to the metallurgical and mechanical characterization of two tin-based lead-free solder joints. These joints are produced industrially with a Die Laser Soldering process which leads to heterogeneous solidification microstructures, poorly reproducible, multiphased, and with defects. The objective of this thesis is to provide a better understanding of the solder joints lifetime during thermomechanical aging. Thermal aging generates stresses and plastic deformation due to the mismatch in the coefficients of thermal expansion between the different layers of the assemblies. Isotropic constitutive laws were identified from an experimental database of tensile tests on bulk specimens. Those constitutive laws were used in finite element simulations in order to assess the negative effect of the solder joint porosity, inherent flaw traced back to the soldering process. Aging tests coupled with observations of the microstructure evolution have shown the influence of tin grains orientation on crack initiation. The heterogeneity of the microstructure prevents us from proposing a representative volume element of the materials. An inverse method has been implemented in parallel with the development of an in situ bending test bench under a profilometer in order to build the first steps for the mechanical characterization of industrial solder joints
Osselin, Florian. "Thermochemical-based poroelastic modelling of salt crystallization, and a new multiphase flow experiment : how to assess injectivity evolution in the context of CO2 storage in deep aquifers." Phd thesis, Université Paris-Est, 2013. http://pastel.archives-ouvertes.fr/pastel-00977430.
Full textKumar, Kavita. "Catalyseurs sans métaux nobles pour pile à combustible régénérative." Thesis, Poitiers, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017POIT2284/document.
Full textHydrogen, as an environmentally friendly future energy vector, is a non-toxic and convenient molecule for regenerative fuel cell, which connects two different technologies: an electrolyzer for H2 production, and a fuel cell for its direct conversion to electric energy. This kind of system possesses many advantages, such as lightness, compactness and more autonomy. However, improvement of activity and durability of electrode materials free from noble metals in their composition is needed. Thereby, bifunctional catalysts composed of transition metals deposited onto graphene-based materials were synthesized. The interaction between the metal atom of the oxide and the graphene doped heteroatom in the Co3O4/NRGO catalyst was investigated physicochemically. With a low cobalt loading, the interaction between cobalt and nitrogen was characterized by cyclic voltammetry, which revealed that it was responsible for decreasing the oxide nanoparticle size, as well as increasing the material activity towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The substitution of Co by Ni in the spinel structure (NiCo2O4/RGO) obtained by solvothermal synthesis, allowed the enhancement of the electrocatalytic performances towards the ORR and OER. Moreover, this catalyst as well as another material prepared in collaborative program with a lab from Technical University of Berlin were used as cathode in preliminary studies undertaken on solid alkaline fuel cell (SAFC)
Alshtaiwi, Ma'moun. "Structuration ontologique et étude sémantico-syntaxique de la terminologie des sciences et techniques spatiales (arabe - français - anglais)." Thesis, Lyon, 2016. http://www.theses.fr/2016LYSE2055.
Full textThe terminology related to the space science and technology (SST), corpus-based approach, is studied within the framework of the ontological structure pattern. The morpho-syntactical formation of the terminological unit, its characteristics as well as the schemata of arguments (predicative expressions and arguments) are both analyzed within the context and beyond the context. It’s characterized by a level of relative fixed structure: one of the properties of the “long” terminological unit that can often be decomposed. It can have a discursive behavior in particular, discourse anaphora, and the reduction by deletion of one of its components. In the latter case, this refers to certain aspects of the terminologization such as non-differential element falling and a characteristic or nominal element maintaining. Therefore, some aspects are constant factors which allow to highlight the diachronic evolution of the terminological unit. The outcome of the ontological structure is analyzed with the aim of describing not only the concepts of the SST, but also the use of the schemata of arguments i.e. verbal and nominal in the corpus by establishing itself on the semantic-syntactical labels. An analysis of the specialized verb was developed to supply useful information for the constitution of the multilingual terminological database or to give techno-scientific definitions. The study also allowed to describe absent verbs in the specialized dictionaries, to show how a verb can acquire a new specialized meaning, to identify the typical agent of the specialized verbs. There are two classifications of the specialized verb according to their uses and their morpho-syntactical structure were proposed as; simple verbal unit (SVU) and complex verbal unit (CVU). A syntagm involves one of the two analyzes: compositional unit or non-compositional unit. According to the situational context, the definition of the verb in LSP allowed finally to identify three meanings of the verb: very specialized verb, polysemous verb, and support verb
Saa, Ngouana Ange Yannick. "Évolution du risque et droit des assurances : étude selon les droits français et CIMA." Thesis, Paris 1, 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015PA010268.
Full textThe legal treatment of the evolution of the risk tends to alleviate the imbalance arisen from the influence of time on the insurance contract. Rules related to party’s relationship try in priority to address this issue by looking for the restoration of a balance in the insurance contract. This balance is restored automatically when the evolution reaches the base or the value of the risk. The premium and the allowance are directly adjusted in relation to the risk. When the evolution, upward or downward, affects the scale of the risk, that is the probability or intensity of its occurrence, the adaptation of the contract will be negotiated. It is from the attitude of the parties that depends the issue of the negotiations. The contract which cannot be adapted is destroyed in order to contain the misdeeds of the evolution of the risk. That is the reason why its cancellation sanctioned the bad faith of the insured on the occasion of the worsening of the risk. This is because the coverage of the aggravated risk without adaptation of the conditions of the warranty puts in danger the balance of the mutuality. On the other hand, the sunsetting appears to be the only solution to the contract in case of total disappearance of the risk. The insurer not assuming anymore its obligations, this results on the refund prorata temporis of the advanced premium.The breach of contract is not always offered to the parties. Variations proceeding of the legal uncertainty and specific risks in the insurance of persons do not lend parties to the questioning of their relationship. The unsuitability of the contract is therefore absolute. It becomes relative when, in the case of insurance of damages, the insurer loses, subsequently to the evolution of risk, his right to invoke its legal prerogatives, although the contract could have normally been adapted. Giving that contractual impossibility to control the consequences of the evolution of the risk, it is necessary to reach the balance of the insurance technique of mutualizing, both in the interest of insurer and that of mutuality. Insurance company Law allows the insurer to meet its commitments when the risk evolves. The provisioning of all risk variations and the respect of the solvency requirements ensure, in any circumstance, the availability of sufficient funds to ensure its commitments towards policyholders. For mutual insurance companies, the adjustment of premium constitutes, in addition, a major asset to balance, at the end of a year, the contributions of their members on the basis of the charge of disaster
Dessources, Samuel. "Conception de matériaux de type PtxM1-x/C (M=Ni, Nb) et PtxNi1-x/CeO2/C pour l'électroréduction de l'eau (HER) et l'électrooxydation du dihydrogène (HOR)." Thesis, Poitiers, 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015POIT2317/document.
Full textPlatinum is the reference material for the electroreduction of water (HER) and the electrooxidation of hydrogen (HOR). The starting point of this work was the synthesis of Pt/C by the BAE method. The physicochemical properties of this material and the corresponding kinetic parameters for HOR and HER in alkaline medium were obtained. Palladium and gold also exhibit interesting activities towards these reactions. The activity of these metals supported on carbon and obtained by the same synthesis method was therefore studied in the same conditions so as to perform a comparative investigation.The effect of Ni and Nb on the catalytic activity of Pt for both reactions (HOR and HER) was also investigated. Thus, two sets of PtxM1-x/C (M = Ni, Nb) catalysts were prepared and their physicochemical properties and electrocatalytic activities studied in alkaline medium. Although Ni and Nb do not catalyze HOR nor HER in the scrutinized potential range, their presence can lead to changes in the catalytic site and consequently influence the electrocatalytic activity of the various materials towards the studied reactions. For each material, the kinetic parameters were determined for both HER and HOR and compared with those obtained for Pt/C. The results revealed very promising bimetallic catalysts. Moreover, the CO-stripping measurement highlighted an electronic effect on platinum favorable to the CO oxidation at low potential values for the PtxNi1-x/C materials.Finally, the modification of the electrode support by adding CeO2 resulted in a Pt0,5Ni0,5/CeO2/C catalyst exhibiting excellent catalytic activities towards HER and HOR while decreasing significantly (50%) the amount of Pt
Ebert, Maximilian. "Shifting the boundaries of experimental studies in engineering enzymatic functions : combining the benefits of computational and experimental methods." Thèse, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1866/19025.
Full textL'industrie chimique mondiale est en pleine mutation, cherchant des solutions pour rendre la synthèse organique classique plus durable. Une telle solution consiste à passer de la catalyse chimique classique à la biocatalyse. Bien que les avantages des enzymes incluent leur stéréo, régio et chimiosélectivité, cette sélectivité réduit souvent leur promiscuité. Les efforts requis pour adapter la fonction enzymatique aux réactions désirées se sont révélés d'une efficacité modérée, de sorte que des méthodes rapides et rentables sont nécessaires pour générer des biocatalyseurs qui rendront la production chimique plus efficace. Dans l’ère de la bioinformatique et des outils de calcul pour soutenir l'ingénierie des enzymes, le développement rapide de nouvelles fonctions enzymatiques devient une réalité. Cette thèse commence par un examen des développements récents sur les outils de calcul pour l’ingénierie des enzymes. Ceci est suivi par un exemple de l’ingénierie des enzymes purement expérimental ainsi que de l’évolution des protéines. Nous avons exploré l’espace mutationnel d'une enzyme primitive, la dihydrofolate réductase R67 (DHFR R67), en utilisant l’ingénierie semi-rationnelle des protéines. La conception rationnelle d’une librarie de mutants, ou «Smart library design», impliquait l’association covalente de monomères de l’homotétramère DHFR R67 en dimères afin d’augmenter la diversité de la librairie d’enzymes mutées. Le criblage par activité enzymatique a révélé un fort biais pour le maintien de la séquence native dans un des protomères tout en tolérant une variation de séquence élevée pour le deuxième. Il est plausible que les protomères natifs procurent l’activité observée, de sorte que nos efforts pour modifier le site actif de la DHFR R67 peuvent n’avoir été que modérément fructueux. Les limites des méthodes expérimentales sont ensuite abordées par le développement d’outils qui facilitent la prédiction des points chauds mutationnels, c’est-à-dire les sites privilégiés à muter afin de moduler la fonction. Le développement de ces techniques est intensif en termes de calcul, car les protéines sont de grandes molécules complexes dans un environnement à base d’eau, l’un des solvants les plus difficiles à modéliser. Nous présentons l’identification rapide des points chauds mutationnels spécifiques au substrat en utilisant l'exemple d’une enzyme cytochrome P450 industriellement pertinente, la CYP102A1. En appliquant la technique de simulation de la dynamique moléculaire par la force de polarisation adaptative, ou «ABF», nous confirmons les points chauds mutationnels connus pour l’hydroxylation des acides gras tout en identifiant de nouveaux points chauds mutationnels. Nous prédisons également la conformation du substrat naturel, l’acide palmitique, dans le site actif et nous appliquons ces connaissances pour effectuer un criblage virtuel d'autres substrats de cette enzyme. Nous effectuons ensuite des simulations de dynamique moléculaire pour traiter l’impact potentiel de la dynamique des protéines sur la catalyse enzymatique, qui est le sujet de discussions animées entre les experts du domaine. Avec la disponibilité accrue de structures cristallines dans la banque de données de protéines (PDB), il devient clair qu’une seule structure de protéine n’est pas suffisante pour élucider la fonction enzymatique. Nous le démontrons en analysant quatre structures cristallines que nous avons obtenues d’une enzyme β-lactamase, parmi lesquelles un réarrangement important des résidus clés du site actif est observable. Nous avons réalisé de longues simulations de dynamique moléculaire pour générer un ensemble de structures suggérant que les structures cristallines ne reflètent pas nécessairement la conformation de plus basse énergie. Enfin, nous étudions la nécessité de compléter de manière informatisée un hémisphère où l’expérimental n’est actuellement pas possible, à savoir la prédiction de la migration des gaz dans les enzymes. À titre d'exemple, la réactivité des enzymes cytochrome P450 dépend de la disponibilité des molécules d’oxygène envers l’hème du site actif. Par le biais de simulations de la dynamique moléculaire de type Simulation Implicite du Ligand (ILS), nous dérivons le paysage de l’énergie libre de petites molécules neutres de gaz pour cartographier les canaux potentiels empruntés par les gaz dans les cytochromes P450 : CYP102A1 et CYP102A5. La comparaison pour les gaz CO, N2 et O2 suggère que ces enzymes évoluent vers l’exclusion du CO inhibiteur. De plus, nous prédisons que les canaux empruntés par les gaz sont distincts des canaux empruntés par le substrat connu et que ces canaux peuvent donc être modifiés indépendamment les uns des autres.
The chemical industry worldwide is at a turning point, seeking solutions to make classical organic synthesis more sustainable. One such solution is to shift from classical catalysis to biocatalysis. Although the advantages of enzymes include their stereo-, regio-, and chemoselectivity, their selectivity often reduces versatility. Past efforts to tailor enzymatic function towards desired reactions have met with moderate effectiveness, such that fast and cost-effective methods are in demand to generate biocatalysts that will render the production of fine and bulk chemical production more benign. In the wake of bioinformatics and computational tools to support enzyme engineering, the fast development of new enzyme functions is becoming a reality. This thesis begins with a review of recent developments on computational tools for enzyme engineering. This is followed by an example of purely experimental enzyme engineering and protein evolution. We explored the mutational space of a primitive enzyme, the R67 dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), using semi-rational protein engineering. ‘Smart library design’ involved fusing monomers of the homotetrameric R67 DHFR into dimers, to increase the diversity in the resulting mutated enzyme libraries. Activity-based screening revealed a strong bias for maintenance of the native sequence in one protomer with tolerance for high sequence variation in the second. It is plausible that the native protomers procure the observed activity, such that our efforts to modify the enzyme active site may have been only moderately fruitful. The limitations of experimental methods are then addressed by developing tools that facilitate computational mutational hotspot prediction. Developing these techniques is computationally intensive, as proteins are large molecular objects and work in aqueous media, one of the most complex solvents to model. We present the rapid, substrate-specific identification of mutational hotspots using the example of the industrially relevant P450 cytochrome CYP102A1. Applying the adaptive biasing force (ABF) molecular dynamics simulation technique, we confirm the known mutational hotspots for fatty acid hydroxylation and identify a new one. We also predict a catalytic binding pose for the natural substrate, palmitic acid, and apply that knowledge to perform virtual screening for further substrates for this enzyme. We then perform molecular dynamics simulations to address the potential impact of protein dynamics on enzyme catalysis, which is the topic of heated discussions among experts in the field. With the availability of more crystal structures in the Protein Data Bank, it is becoming clear that a single protein structure is not sufficient to elucidate enzyme function. We demonstrate this by analyzing four crystal structures we obtained of a β-lactamase enzyme, among which a striking rearrangement of key active site residues was observed. We performed long molecular dynamics simulations to generate a structural ensemble that suggests that crystal structures do not necessarily reflect the conformation of lowest energy. Finally, we address the need to computationally complement an area where experimentation is not currently possible, namely the prediction of gas migration into enzymes. As an example, the reactivity of P450 cytochrome enzymes depends on the availability of molecular oxygen at the active-site heme. Using the Implicit Ligand Sampling (ILS) molecular dynamics simulation technique, we derive the free energy landscape of small neutral gas molecules to map potential gas channels in cytochrome P450 CYP102A1 and CYP102A5. Comparison of CO, N2 and O2 suggests that those enzymes evolved towards exclusion of the inhibiting CO. In addition, we predict that gas channels are distinct from known substrate channels and therefore can be engineered independently from one another.