Research Overview
Halophilic Archaea
Archaea are a classification of ancient, single-celled microorganisms that are found in an extremely broad range of environments, including those too extreme to support other life forms. Although, like bacteria, they lack cell nuclei, Archaea are actually more closely related to organisms that have nuclei (eukaryotes) than bacteria.
Extremophiles
Organisms that thrive in extreme or harsh environments are known as extremophiles. Harsh conditions can include very high or very low temperatures, unusually dry or salty environments, acidic...
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Research DescriptionResearch Areas: Archaeal Genomics, Molecular Biology, and Biotechnology.
Research Specialties: Halophilic archaeal genomics. Structure, function, and evolution of genomes. Global gene regulation and promoter function. Biotechnological applications in medicine and industry.
Research Interests
Our research interests include broadly the fields of molecular biology, genomics, functional genomics and biotechnology of halophilic Archaea (haloarchaea). Haloarchaea are excellent models for fundamental processes, such as DNA replication, transcription and gene regulation, and translation and for mechanisms of survival in extreme environments. They are superb experimental organisms, being both easy to culture and genetically tractable. Over the last 20 years, our research interests developed along three lines: (1) Analysis of high-frequency gas vesicle mutants, quite surprisingly, led to the identification of a large gvp gene cluster with over a dozen genes required for biogenesis of the buoyant organelles.
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Representative Publications
Berquist, B.R. and S. DasSarma. 2008. DNA replication in Archaea. In
Archaea: new models for prokaryotic biology. Horizon Press, P. Blum
(ed.), Norwich, U.K., pp. 95-120.
Coker, J.A. and S. DasSarma. 2007. Genetic and transcriptomic analysis
of transcription factor genes in the model halophilic Archaeon:
Coordinate action of TbpD and TfbA. BMC Genetics 8:61.
DeVeaux, L.C., Mller, J.A., Smith, J., Petrisko, J., Wells, D.P., and
S. DasSarma. 2007. Extremely radiation-resistant mutants of a
halophilic archaeon with increased single-stranded DNA binding protein
(RPA) gene expression. Radiation Res. 168:507-514.
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