Olivia DrakeManju Hingorani, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, is the author of "Distinct structural alterations in proliferating cell nuclear antigen block DNA mismatch repair," published in Biochemistry on Aug. 20, 2013. Read an abstract of the paper online here. She's also the author of "Slow Conformational Changes in MutS and DNA Direct Ordered Transitions between Mismatch Search, Recognition and Signaling of DNA Repair," published in The Journal of Molecular Biology on Aug. 20, 2013. Her former students, F. Noah Biro '09 and Christopher Doucette '11 co-authored the paper. Read the abstract online here.
Amy MacQueen, assistant professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, has received a three-year grant for $372,445 from the National Institutes of Health Academic Research Enhancement Award program to support her research on “Structure and Dynamics of the Synaptonemal Complex.” The grant was awarded in August 2013.
Four Wesleyan faculty and staff members completed the Litchfield Hills Olympic Triathlon held July 14 in New Hartford, Conn. The triathlon featured a 1.5K swim, a 40K bike course, and a scenic, rural back road 10K run. Wesleyan participants included Mike McAlear, associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry; Tom DiMauro, analyst programmer in ITS; James Taft, assistant director of technology support services in ITS; and Brian Northrop, assistant professor of chemistry. Northrop came in third place overall.
Scott Holmes, associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, received a $5,125 National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates supplement to enhance his current grant, which supports research titled, “Epigenetic Silencing of Gene Expression in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae.”
Ishita Mukerji, dean of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics division, and professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, has received a $6,750 National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates supplement to enhance her current grant supporting research, “Structure and Function of Holliday Junctions Complexed With Proteins Probed by Fluorescence and UV Raman Spectroscopic Methods.”
Lauren RubensteinUniversity Professor of Natural Science and Mathematics David Beveridge was one of 33 leading experts in science, engineering and technology recently elected to membership in the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. The new members will be introduced at the Academy's 38th annual meeting and dinner on May 22 at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. According to the Academy, election is "on the basis of scientific and engineering distinction achieved through significant contributions in theory or applications, as demonstrated by original published books and papers, patents, the pioneering of new and developing fields and innovative products, outstanding leadership of nationally…
(Story contributed by Jim H. Smith) A recent discovery made by Michael McAlear, chair and associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, and four of his students helps explain the function of ribosomes and sheds light on genetic processes scientists have been trying to decode for more than half a century. A paper authored by McAlear and his laboratory team, describing the discovery, was published last month in the distinguished journal BMC Genomics. The discovery resulted from long-term research into the regulation of ribosomes, often described as molecular “machines,” the organelles of all living cells in which protein synthesis occurs. Guided…
Scott Holmes, associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, received a grant worth $374,150 from the National Institutes of Health. The grant will support a study on "Functional interaction of histone H1 with the core nucleosome" until 2015. Several Wesleyan undergraduates conducted experiments crucial for developing this grant proposal, including Samantha Schilit '10, MA '11, who is currently in her first year as a Ph.D. candidate at the Harvard School of Medicine. Histone proteins organize DNA into its basic organizational unit, the chromosome, and have a fundamental influence on the function of DNA. The four core histones assemble into the…
Michael McAlear, chair and associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, is the co-author of "The adjacent positioning of co-regulated gene pairs is widely conserved across eukaryotes," published in BMC Genomics, October 2012. The article is online here. The co-authors are Ph.D candidate James Arnone and Jeffrey Arace '12; Adam Robbins-Pianka BA '08, MA '10; and Sara Kass-Gergi '12. The team investigated co-regulated gene sets in S. cerevisiae beyond those related to ribosome biogenesis, and found that a number of these regulons, including those involved in DNA metabolism, heat shock, and the response to cellular stressors were also significantly enriched for adjacent gene…
Amy MacQueen, assistant professor of molecular biology and biochemistry; Karen Voelkel Meiman, research associate; and Sarah Moustafa BA'11, MA'12 are co-authors of the paper, "Full-Length Synaptonemal Complex Grows Continuously during Meiotic Prophase in Budding Yeast," published by PLOS Genetics, Oct. 11, 2012. Moustafa worked on the paper as an undergraduate researcher and again as a BA/MA student. An abstract and the paper is online here.
The Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Department sent three professors and six students to the international 2012 Yeast Genetics & Molecular Biology Meeting held at Princeton University recently, giving Wesleyan the largest per capita representation in the world. Attending from the department were Associate Professor and Chair Michael McAlear and his graduate student, James Arnone; Assistant Professor Amy MacQueen and her graduate students Pritam Mukherjee and Lina Yisehak, and recent alumni Sarah Beatie '12 and Louis Taylor '12; and Associate Professor Scott Holmes and his graduate student, Rebecca Ryznar. All spoke or presented on various aspects of yeast genetics, molecular biology,…
Rich Olson, assistant professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, received a grant worth $460,197 from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on Aug. 8. The grant will support his research on "Mechanism of Cell Membrane Targeting by Vibrio cholera Cytolysin" through July 31, 2015. Vibrio cholerae cytolysin (VCC) belongs to a family of secreted toxins produced by pathogenic bacteria that allows them to evade the immune system and to colonize the human body. Understanding how bacteria and their toxins target cells is important in developing therapies against human infectious diseases.