Microbiology

Hepatitis E Virus structural studies from the Tao Lab

A new era in our understanding of the microbial world is beginning with the availability of genomic sequences of many organisms of ecological, industrial and medical interest.  This trove of information coupled with advances in genetic methods and biochemical measurements has brought new insights into mechanisms of pathogenesis, metabolic processes, and gene regulation.  Since microbes provide the simplest system for study of a process they have often been used in the elucidation of detailed mechanisms of many basic cellular processes.  Now in addition, they serve leading roles in efforts for the computational modeling of cell functions, and initiatives to understand the diversity and interactions of natural biological communities.  At Rice University we are employing these techniques in studies of microbial behavior in response to various stresses, how metabolic functions are switched in response to environmental conditions, virus-microbe interactions, and basic mechanisms of  biological processes.  Many applications of this field exist and include forming all sorts of desired products through metabolic engineering, providing a source of improved diagnostics and pharmaceuticals, and promoting their biodegradative abilities to remove hazardous waste.

Faculty links:
George N. Bennett:  Biodegradation by microbes, fermentation processes and environmental stress (lab home page).

Michael C. Gustin:  Genetic analysis of stress signaling pathways in yeast and Drosophila.

Seiichi P. T. Matsuda:   Metabolic engineering to generate valuable natural products in yeast; investigation of metabolism in pathogenic fungi and protozoa.

Split ADK assays for protein-protein interactions in mesophilic and thermophilic bacteria from the Silberg Lab

Edward P. Nikonowicz:  NMR spectroscopy of RNA and RNA-protein interactions - correlation of structure, function, and dynamics; structural and dynamics studies of phage regulatory elements; structural studies of rRNA protein recognition sites; isotopic enrichment structure and thermodynamic studies of base-modified tRNAs.

Yousif Shamoo:  In vivo pathways of molecular evolution:  acquisition of thermostability by mesophilic adenylate kinase in Bacillus stearothermophilus. (lab home page).

Jonathan Silberg: Investigation of the processes controlling molecular evolution, particularly the evolution of protein structure, function, and molecular recognition using biochemical, computational, and molecular biological methods (lab home page).

Charles R. Stewart:  Bacteriophage molecular genetics:  mechanisms of host-takeover during bacteriophage infection; mechanisms of bactericidal gene action.

Yizhi Jane Tao:  Regulation of virus genome replication; molecular mechanisms of eukaryotic chromosome condensation (lab home page).