Areas of Interest
Gene Regulation in Bacteria
We study basic gene regulatory mechanisms in prokaryotes by a
combination of biochemistry and classic and molecular genetics.
Current research efforts are devoted in three areas:
- Genetics, genomics and mechanisms of bacterial adaptive
response.
- Genetic control of bacteriophage lysogeny and lysis.
- Non-coding RNAs in prokaryotic development.
Lab Rotation Projects
We are interested in the regulation of gene expression in
bacteria with an emphasis on genetics and genomics. Rotation
students are welcome in one of the following areas under
investigation:
1. To elucidate the regulation of stress response in E. coli
and Salmonella by the Gre factors, two conserved RNA polymerase
binding proteins that are induced by several forms of stress.
2. To test the function of Gre factors and various
two-component systems in the pathogenesis of model gram-negative
organisms using C. elegans as a surrogate host.
The basic approach for these studies is to create knock-out
mutants through chromosomal “recombineering”, investigate the
patterns of gene expression using reporter gene fusions and
molecular techniques, and deduce the phenotypic consequences of
the mutants by a combination of physiological experiments and
infections of worms as well as human cells in culture.
Selected Publications
Das, A., Garcia Mena, J., Jana, N., Lazinski, D., Michaud, G.,
Sengupta, S., and Zhang, Z. (2003). Genetic and biochemical
strategies to elucidate the architecture and targets of a
processive transcription antiterminator from bacteriophage
lambda. Methods Enzymol 371: 438-459.
Toulme, F., Mosrin-Huaman, C., Sparkowski, J., Das, A., Leng,
M., and Rahmouni, A. R. (2000). GreA and GreB proteins revive
backtracked RNA polymerase in vivo by promoting transcript
trimming, Embo J 19: 6853-6859.
Kulish, D., Lee, J., Lomakin, I., Nowicka, B., Das, A., Darst,
S., Normet, K., and Borukhov, S. (2000). The functional role of
basic patch, a structural element of Escherichia coli transcript
cleavage factors GreA and GreB. J Biol Chem 275: 12789-12798.
Altieri, A. S., Mazzulla, M. J., Horita, D. A., Coats, R. H.,
Wingfield, P. T., Das, A., Court, D. L., and Byrd, R. A. (2000).
The structure of the transcriptional antiterminator NusB from
Escherichia coli. Nat Struct Biol 7: 470-474.
Garcia-Mena, J., Das, A., Sanchez-Trujillo, A., Portier, C.,
and Montanez, C. (1999). A novel mutation in the KH domain of
polynucleotide phosphorylase affects autoregulation and mRNA
decay in Escherichia coli. Mol Microbiol 33: 235-248. |
