The Zarivach Laboratory

Our lab focuses on determining the structures of magnetosome-related proteins from Magnetotactic bacteria. A second research theme in the lab focuses on structural analyses of proteins involved in silica biomineralization in diatoms. We are involved in several collaborations at BGU as well as other research centers in Israel and around the world.
The lab utilizes various techniques of molecular biology, biochemistry, cryo-EM and crystallography in order to achieve a better understanding of the structural features of various proteins of interest. 

                                                                            Diversity of diatom silica frustules (SEM image by Mogana Das Murtey and Patchamuthu Ramasamy)

Our lab is a member of the Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences and of the National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev (NIBN) at the Ben-Gurion University, Israel. The lab is tightly connected with the Macromolecular Crystallography Research Center (MCRC) and the cryo-EM unit, also located at the Ben-Gurion University.