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Beth C. Mullin PhD: North Carolina State University 620 Science and Engineering |
Keywords:
Plant-microbe interactions, nitrogen fixation, molecular evolution
Research Area:
The major goal of my research is to develop targeting of radioisotopes to tumor blood vessels for therapy of metastases.
Description of Research:
Research in my lab is primarily related to biological nitrogen fixation and plant-microbe interactions. We are particularly interested in the molecular basis for the regulation of events leading to successful nitrogen-fixing symbioses as well as in the evolution of symbioses. We are focusing on Frankia, the actinomycete which infects a number of ecologically important plant species, as well as on the host plants themselves. Our work with frankiae symbiosis can be divided into two parts. The first is a phylogenetic and taxonomic study of the endophyte itself. Because the more traditional methods of classification based on morphological, cultural, physiological, chemical and serological characteristics have failed to provide a taxonomic framework for the genus, my research group has assessed relationships using the molecular technique of DNA:DNA hybridization. Most recently a genomics project has been initiated and will result in the first physical map of the Frankia genome and will eventually lead it is hoped, to complete genome sequencing and at least structural, if not functional genome annotation.
The second part of my work with frankiae symbiosis involves the isolation and study of the genes controlling nodulation and nitrogen fixation in both the endophyte and the plant host. This work involves the cloning and sequencing of plant and bacterial genes, a prediction of their role in symbiosis and the biochemical characterization of gene products. We are currently studying a host plant-coded putative metal-binding protein expressed in the zone of infection of actinorhizal nodules.
Selected Publications:
- Normand P and BC Mullin (In Press) Prospects for the study of the ubiquitous actinomycete, Frankia, and its host plants. In. Nitrogen Fixation Research: Origins and Progress. Volume VI. Actinorhizal Symbiosis. eds. Newton and Pawlowski.
- Cherian S, Gupta RK, Mullin BC and Thundat T (2003) Detection of heavy metal ions using protein-functionalized microcantilever sensors. Biosensors and Bioelectronics 19(5): 411-514.
- Gupta RK, Dobritsa SV, Stiles CA, Essington ME, Liu ZY, Chen C-H, Serpersu EH and Mullin BC (2002) Metallohistins: A New Class of Plant Metal-Binding Proteins. Journal of Protein Chemistry 21(8):529-536.
- Maillet C, Gupta RK, Schell MG, Brewton RG, Murphy CL, Wall JS and Mullin BC (2001) Enhanced capture of small histidine-containing polypeptides on PVDF, nylon and nitrocellulose membranes in the presence of ZnCl2. BioTechniques 30:1224-1230.
- Dobritsa SV, Maillet CM and Mullin BC (2000) Novel nodule-specific glycine- and histidine-rich proteins expressed in the zone of infection of actinorhizal nodules may be multimeric metal-binding proteins. In: Nitrogen Fixation: From Molecules to Crop Productivity. Eds, F. O. Pedrosa, M. Hungria, M.G. Yates and W.E. Newton. Klewer Academic Publishers, p463-464.