American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Selects … – Newswise (press release)

Posted on by

Newswise The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology announced this week the election and appointment of seven new society leaders. They begin their terms July 1.

President-elect

Gerald Hart, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, who studies nutrient regulation of signaling and transcription.

Council

Takita Sumter, Winthrop University, who studies high-mobility group A proteins in cancer signaling.

JoAnn Trejo, University of California, San Diego, who studies G proteincoupled-receptor signal transduction.

Publications committee

Brian Crane, Cornell University, who studies molecular mechanisms of signal transduction.

Ruth Welti, Kansas State University, who studieslipid metabolism and plant response to environmental stress.

Nominating committee

Anthony Kossiakoff, University of Chicago, who studiesligand-induced receptor activation, antibody engineering and drug delivery.

Iqbal Hamza, University of Maryland, who studies heme trafficking in iron homeostasis.

Note to reporters and PIOs: Print-quality images are available upon request. Email Angela Hopp at ahopp@asbmb.org.

###

About the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

The ASBMB is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization with more than 12,000 members worldwide. Most members teach and conduct research at colleges and universities. Others conduct research in various government laboratories, at nonprofit research institutions and in industry. The Societys student members attend undergraduate or graduate institutions. For more information about ASBMB, visit http://www.asbmb.org.

Original post:
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Selects ... - Newswise (press release)

New Details Revealed on How Plants Maintain a Healthy Sperm-Egg Ratio – UMass News and Media Relations

Posted on by

AMHERST, Mass. Current molecular biochemistry, microscopy and genetic techniques have become so powerful that scientists can now make mechanistic discoveries supported by multiple lines of evidence about intimate processes in plant reproduction that once were very difficult to examine, says molecular biologist Alice Cheung at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

She is the senior author of a new paper in Nature describing how she and her team used such tools to solve, in unprecedented detail, the mechanisms of how flowering plants avoid polyspermy. As the name suggests, polyspermy results from multiple sperm entering and fertilizing an egg, a condition harmful to the zygote. In plants, preventing polyspermy also means higher chances for more females to be fertilized and ensures better seed yields, both of which are agriculturally important, Cheung points out.

For years, she and her long-time collaborator Hen-Ming Wu have led a team that includes a former postdoctoral associate, Qiaohong Duan, a current postdoc Ming-Che (James) Liu, and several graduate students in investigating FERONIAs dual roles in reproduction. For the current paper Duan and Liu are co-first authors.

Cheung says, It is very exciting to be able to explain how in multiple steps a plant creates an environment in its ovule, where the egg cell is located, that is first receptive to an incoming pollen tube to deliver sperm, but once fertilization is ensured it will instantly switch to block more pollen tubes from approaching to guard against polyspermy. These two acts are controlled by a gene called FERONIA, she adds, which encodes the FERONIA receptor kinase that senses signals on the cell surface and instructs the cell to respond appropriately.

Cheung says one of the key discoveries in their latest work is FERONIAs role in the cell wall and, in particular, its ability to interact with pectin, a sugar polymer in the wall. As conditions vary, one form of this polymer, called de-esterified pectin, can maintain a malleable wall, for example, so the first pollen tube arriving at the egg chamber inside the ovule can penetrate. But this pectin can also abruptly harden after the first pollen tube has penetrated, blocking more from entering.

This special pectin also triggers other activity, they discovered. Cheung and colleagues say they observed for the first time that de-esterified pectin serves as a signal to trigger an environment enriched in nitric oxide (NO) at the entrance to the egg chamber. In a series of bioassays, molecular interaction and biochemical analyses, they show that this gaseous signaling molecule modifies and de-activates a chemoattractant produced by the female to guide pollen tubes to their target. This quick change insures that late-arriving pollen tubes cannot approach an already fertilized ovule.

Cheung explains, As a gas, NO can diffuse very quickly, maybe even instantly as it is produced. The title of our paper, FERONIA controls pectin- and nitric oxide-mediated male-female interaction captures how our latest work connects these two FERONIA- controlled conditions. What led us to our findings is that without FERONIA, the cell wall is deficient in de-esterified pectin, but with FERONIA present, the wall works both as a source of signal molecules to trigger NO and also a physical barrier.

The molecular biologist says that because of its almost global importance to plant survival that her group and others have demonstrated, there are now likely dozens of labs around the world from plant stress physiologists to molecular structural biologists pursuing different aspects of FERONIA and its related proteins. Cheung says some of these proteins function together in very intriguing ways, so there is immense potential for advances in plant biology and fundamental signal transduction mechanisms from this very active field.

See the original post here:
New Details Revealed on How Plants Maintain a Healthy Sperm-Egg Ratio - UMass News and Media Relations

Biochemistry | Middle Tennessee State University

Posted on by

Degree Information Ph.D., Monash University (1987) B.S., Monash University (1983)

Investigation of the influence of yeast enzymes on wine composition and the transformation of anthocyanins during wine aging

Determining the relationships of wine and non-wine yeast strains by DNA sequence analysis of the rDNA genes and interspacer regions

Comparison of the fermentation by-products of wine and non-wine yeast

Study the effects of different isomeric forms of 2,3-butanediol on the quality of wine

Study the inhibitory effects of xylitol and other polyols on the growth of cavities causing bacteria, Streptococcus mutans

Development of methods for the analysis of yeast metabolites produced by the transformation of phenanthrene

Studying the effects of glucose on the yield of xylitol produced from biomass-derived products by yeast Biography Publications BB. G. Ooi. "Application of Commercial and Web-Based Software Programs for DNA Sequence Analysis in Undergraduate Biochemistry Laboratory";. Chem. Educator, 10, 1-4, 2005.

Ngee-Sing Chong, Omobola Oladipupo, Vichuda Hunter, Beng-Guat Ooi. "Application of the AMDIS Mass Spectral Deconvolution Algorithm for the Characterization of Cigarette Smoke";. Proceedings of the 52nd ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics, ThPD 059 (July 23, 2004).

B. G. Ooi. "DNA Amplification by PCR and Analysis by Gel Electrophoresis - An Undergraduate Biochemistry Experiment";. Chem. Educator, 9, 97-101, 2004.

B. G. Ooi, A. M. Mulisa, H. Y. Kim, & N. S. Chong. "Methods development for the detection of trace metabolites from biotransformation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by yeast";. J. Tenn. Acad. Sci., 78 (3), 65-75, 2003.

B. G. Ooi, T. T. B. Le, & B. M. Markuszewski. "The effects of glucose on the yeast conversion of xylose into xylitol by C. guilliermondii and C. tropicalis";. Elec. J. Env. Agri. Food Chem., 1(3), 2002.

B. G. Ooi & L. K. Miller. "The Influence of antisense RNA on transcription mapping of the 5' terminus of a baculovirus RNA";. Journal of General Virology, 72, 527- 534 (1991).

X. Wang, B. G. Ooi & L. K. Miller. "Baculovirus vectors for multiple gene expression and for occluded virus production". Gene, 100, 131-137 (1991).

J. R. Lupski, Y. H. Zhang, M. Rieger, M. Minter, B. Hsu, B. G. Ooi, T. Koeuth & E. R. B. McCabe. "Mutational analysis of the Escherichia coli glpFK region with Tn5 mutagenesis and the polymerase chain reaction". Journal of Bacteriology, 172, 6129-6134 (1990).

B. G. Ooi & L. K. Miller. "Transcription of the Baculovirus polyhedrin gene reduces the levels of an antisense transcription initiated downstream". Journal of Virology, 64, 3126-3129 (1990).

B. G. Ooi, C. Rankin & L. K. Miller. "Downstream sequence augment transcription from the essential initiation site of a baculovirus polyhedrin gene". Journal of Molecular Biology, 210, 721-736 (1989).

C. Rankin, B. G. Ooi & L. K. Miller. "Eight base pairs encompassing the transcription start point are the major determinant for baculovirus polyhedrin gene expression". Gene, 70, 39-49 (1988).

B. G. Ooi & L. K. Miller. "Regulation of host RNA levels during baculovirus infection". Virology, 166, 515-523 (1988).

B. G. Ooi, H. B. Lukins, A. W. Linnane & P. Nagley. "Biogenesis of mitochondrial 66. A mutation in the 5'-untranslated region of yeast mitochondrial oli1 mRNA leading to impairment in translation of subunit 9 of the mitochondrial ATPase complex". Nucleic Acids Research, 15, 1965-1977 (1987).

B. G. Ooi & P. Nagley. "The oli gene and flanking sequences in mitochondrial DNA of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: The complete nucleotide sequence of a 1.35 kilobase petite mitochondrial DNA genome covering the oli1 gene". Current Genetics, 10, 713-723 (1986).

P. Nagley, R. M. Hall & B. G. Ooi. "Amino acid substitutions in mitochondrial ATPase subunit 9 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae leading to oligomycin or venturicidin resistance". FEBS Letters, 195, 159-163 (1986).

A. W. Linnane, H. B. Lukins, P. Nagley, S. Marzuki, R. G. Hadikusumo, M. J. B. Jean-Francois, U. P. John, B. G. Ooi, L. C. Watkins, T. A. Willson, J. Wright & S. Meltzer. "Assembly of the yeast mitochondrial H+-ATPase: correlative studies involving gene sequencing and immunochemical probes of assembly". In Achievements and Perspectives in Mitochondrial Research, Volume I: Bioenergetics, (F. Palmieri, ed.), Elsevier/ North Holland Biomedical Press, Amsterdam, 211-222 (1985).

B. G. Ooi, C. E. Novitski & P. Nagley. "DNA sequence analysis of the oli1 gene reveals amino acid changes in mitochondrial ATPase subunit 9 from oligomycin resistant mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae". European Journal of Biochemistry, 152, 709-714 (1985).

B. G. Ooi, G. L. McMullen, A. W. Linnane, P. Nagley & C. E. Novitski. "Biogenesis of mitochondrial 62. DNA sequence analysis of mit- mutations in the mitochondrial oli1 gene coding for mitochondrial ATPase subunit 9 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae". Nucleic Acids Research, 13, 1327-1339 (1985).

I. G. Macreadie, C. E. Novitski, R. J. Maxwell, U. John, B. G. Ooi, G. L. McMullen, H.B. Lukins, A. W. Linnane & P. Nagley. "Biogenesis of mitochondrial 59. The mitochondrial ATPase subunit 8 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae". Nucleic Acids Research, 11, 4435-4451 (1983).

Presentations Rachel E. Thornell and Beng Guat Ooi. "The Sugar that Exhibits Dental Health Benefits"; The 11 th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium of the College of Basic And Applied Sciences. (April 15, 2005)

S. B. Naquin, Z. T. Frensley, N. S. Chong & B. G. Ooi. "A Study of Bidi Cigarette Smoke on Salmonella typhimurium strains TA97a and TA98"; SCHOLAR'S DAY 2004: A University-Wide Showcase of Research, Scholarship, Creativity, and Public Service. (October 22, 2004)

Ngee-Sing Chong, Omobola Oladipupo, Vichuda Hunter, Beng-Guat Ooi. "Application of the AMDIS Mass Spectral Deconvolution Algorithm for the Characterization of Cigarette Smoke"; 52nd American Society of Mass Spectrometry Conference in Nashville, TN (May 27, 2004)

Rachel E. Thornell and Beng Guat Ooi. "The Sugar that Exhibits Dental Health Benefits"; The Golden Goggle Lecture & Research Open House (April 27, 2004)

S. B. Naquin, Z. T. Frensley, N. S. Chong & B. G. Ooi. "A Study of Bidi Cigarette Smoke on Salmonella typhimurium strains TA97a and TA98";, 2003 Southeast Regional ACS meeting in Atlanta, GA (November 16-19, 2003)

S. B. Naquin, Z. T. Frensley, N. S. Chong & B. G. Ooi. "A Study of Bidi Cigarette Smoke on Salmonella typhimurium strains TA97a and TA98";, Tennessee Academy of Science 113th meeting in conjuction with the Tennessee Science Teachers Association in Flanklin, TN (November 13-15, 2003)

B. G. Ooi, T. T. B Le., & B. M. Markuszewski. "The effects of glucose on the yeast conversion of xylose into xylitol by C. guilliermondii and C. tropicalis";, The University-wide showcase for Faculty Research and Creativity (May 2, 2003)

B. G. Ooi, T. T. B Le., & B. M. Markuszewski. "The effects of glucose on the yeast conversion of xylose into xylitol by C. guilliermondii and C. tropicalis";, The Golden Goggle Lecture & Research Open House (April 24, 2003)

B. G. Ooi, T. T. B Le., & B. M. Markuszewski. "The effects of glucose on the yeast conversion of xylose into xylitol by C. guilliermondii and C. tropicalis";, Pittsburgh Conference (March, 2003)

N. S. Chong, H. Y. Kim, A. M. Mulisa, and B. G. Ooi, "Methods Development for the Detection of Trace Metabolites from the Biodegradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by Yeasts";, Pittsburgh Conference (March, 2003)

H. Y. Kim, N.S. Chong, and B.G. Ooi. "Methods Development for the Detection of Trace Metabolites from the Biodegradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by Yeasts";. Third MTSU University-wide Faculty Research Symposium, (April 25, 2002)

B. M. Bednarz and B.G. Ooi. " Relationships between Wine and Non-Wine Yeast Strains Based on Restriction Enzyme Analyses of Genomic and mtDNA";. The Golden Goggle Lecture & Research Open House (April 16, 2002)

H. Y. Kim, N.S. Chong, and B.G. Ooi. "Methods Development for the Detection of Trace Metabolites from the Biodegradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by Yeasts";. Second Joint Meeting of Tennessee Academy of Science and the Kentucky Academy of Science, (November 8-10, 2001).

A. M. Mulisa, B.G. Ooi & N. S. Chong. "Chromatographic Characterization of Metabolites from the Biotransformation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by C. tropicalis CP1-1";. The Second MTSU University-wide Faculty Research Symposium, (April 25, 2001).

B. M. Bednarz & B.G. Ooi. "Comparative Studies of Wine Composition Produced by Different Yeast Strains";. The Golden Goggles Lecture/ Research Open House, (April 23, 2001). Poster was selected for first prize.

B. G. Ooi, N.S. Chong, and A.M. Mulisa. "Biodegradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by Yeasts";. The Golden Goggles Lecture/Research Open House, (April 23, 2001).

B. M. Bednarz & B.G. Ooi. "Comparative Studies of Wine Composition Produced by Different Yeast Strains";. The Sixth Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, (April 12, 2001).

A. M. Mulisa, B.G. Ooi & N. S. Chong. "Chromatographic Characterization of Metabolites from the Biotransformation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by C. tropicalis";. Pittsburgh Conference, (March, 2001).

Dissertation/Thesis Master of Science Thesis entitled "Methods Development for Dectection of Trace Metabolites from the Biotransformation of Phenanthrene by Candida tropicalis 96745 CP1-1". Alex M. Mulisa

Professional Organization Memberships Tennessee Academy of Science

More:
Biochemistry | Middle Tennessee State University