The Waksman laboratory primarily uses X-ray Crystallography and Electron Microscopy to determine 3D structures as well as biochemical and biophysical techniques to uncover the mechanisms used by these nanomachines.
They form multi-megadalton machines embedded in membranes and are responsible for the secretion of both proteins and nucleic acid substrates.
They also mediate transfer of plasmid DNAs during conjugation, a process that leads to the spread of antibiotics resistance genes.
T4S systems are composed of 12 proteins named VirB1-11 and VirD4 that assemble into a formidable nanomachine of more than 3 megadalton in size and spanning the 2 membranes of Gram-negative bacteria.
[5][6][7][8][9][10] Waksman obtained his PhD in Fundamental Biochemistry at the University of Paris in 1982 and after military service in Ivory Coast, worked for Rhone Poulenc Agrochimie as staff scientist.