April 24, 1998

Dear Professor Seeberger,

Thank you very much for your letter of April 7, 1998, asking Prof. Nakajima to recomend someone for a postdoctoral fellow. I am a Ph. D student of his laboratory. And then I was recomended this position by him.

I would like to apply to the position you have asked him in the letter. I have enjoyed reading about your work on questions at the interface of chemistry and biology, and am writing to express interest in joining your laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow. I will graduate from Prof. Nakajima's laboratory in March 1999, and would like to start my postdoctoral work soon thereafter.

My research interests are focused on the function of polysaccharides. I am interested in the structure and function of polysaccharides, their biochemical effects, and biosynthesis of polysaccharides. This information is critical for understanding the structure of oligosaccharides in the form of glycoproteins and glycolipids of interest.

In my Ph. D. work, I have been working in the yeast cell wall biosynthesis. My thesis work has been on the mutational analyses of the cell wall biosynthetic enzymes, glucan and chitin synthases. My experience doesn't only include biochemistry, but also molecular biology. So, I have experience in mutational work of genes, protein biochemistry, and polysaccharide analyses. You might think there are some differences between your work and my experience, but I believe that my background in protein biochemistry, analytical chemistry, and molecular biology will enable me to contribute to your laboratory.

Enclosed you will find my curriculum vitae. In addition, I will be happy to provide you with copies of my published papers and letters of reference. I can be reached at any time at my E-mail address ,"yabet@biochem.tohoku.ac.jp". I am enthusiastic about the possibility of joining your research group and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Tomio Yabe