Microbiology and Molecular Biology
The graduate program in Microbiology and Molecular Biology is composed of faculty, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students with research interests that encompass a wide range of research and training opportunities for graduate students in preparation for rewarding careers in sciences.
Programs include emphases in many areas of molecular biology and microbiology including bacteriology, ecology, evolution, extremophiles, genetics, gene regulation, immunology, pathobiology, systematics and virology.
Interdisciplinary training is an essential component of all participatory research groups. A microbiology seminar series (BIOS 915M) provides a common forum for research presentation to both local participants and invited speakers. The Microbiology and Molecular Biology GREG has a strong record of placing its graduates in industry and academics.
Two areas of emphasis include pathobiology and microbial physiology.
The microbiology physiology emphasis focuses on model microbial systems using bioinformatic, proteomic and genomic strategies to get answers about fundamental questions on basic molecular and cellular processes in microbes and between microbes and their environments. Topics include studies on mRNA decay, global gene regulation and silencing, quorum sensing, UV and detergent resistance, lipopolysaccharide function, and evolutionary mechanisms in a range of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes. Training in these programs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln include strong preparation in biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology. Research goals include the development of better strategies for the management and manipulation of microbial systems for basic and applied outcomes.
The comparative pathobiology emphasis addresses recent research findings which have shown unexpected similarities in the fundamental properties of some pathogenic microorganisms, and disease responses pertinent to animals, humans, and plants. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has maintained a very strong research and teaching program in infectious diseases. This program seeks to explore the commonalties in animal, human, and plant pathogens and their hosts with the expectation of discovering novel infectious disease processes in all organisms. These include mechanisms involved in recognition between host and pathogens as well as adaptive responses in host plants and animals to stimuli generated by pathogens. Research emphasis efforts to improve disease management, decrease costs associated with infectious diseases, improve animal, human and plant health and generate proprietary novel products for commercial development.
Further Information
Core Faculty
| Faculty Member | Research Interests |
|---|---|
| Peter Angeletti | Replication and persistance of human papillomaviruses (HPVs),primarily those which are sexually transmitted, such HPV16 |
| Audrey Atkin | Regulation of mRNA stability in yeast |
| Zoya Avramova | Relationship between chromatin structure and gene function in animal & plants |
| Paul Blum | Molecular chaperones, thermophilic biology and metabolic engineering |
| Heriberto Cerutti | Epigenetic silencing of nuclear transgenes; chloroplast DNA repair; nucleo-cytoplasmic interactions |
| Catherine Chia | Membrane-cytoskeletal interactions |
| Eugene Martin | Microbial ecology; halotolerant bacteria; cyanophage |
| T. Jack Morris | Virus diseases of plants; molecular genetics of plant viruses; comparative virology |
| Ken Nickerson | Microbial insecticides; fungal dimorphism |
| R.L. Pardy | Cell biology and biochemistry of endotoxins |
| Robert Weldon | Molecular virology; retrovirus-host cell interactions that mediate virus assembly; avian retrovirus pathogenesis |
| Charles Wood | Molecular virology and virol oncology; pathogenesis of human immunodeficiency virus and human herpesvirus |
| Luwen Zhang | Herpes virus latency, interferon regulatory factors |
Associated Faculty
| Faculty Member | Research Interests |
|---|---|
| Raul Barletta | Genetics, antibiotics, mycobacteria |
| Andrew Benson | Microbial genomics and population genetics |
| Roy French | Molecular biology of RNA viruses utilizing wheat viruses and wheat as model systems |
| Robert Hutkins | Microbial physiology, food safety, metabolism |
| Clinton Jones | Latency of a-herpes viruses, apotosis |
| Michael Meagher | Recombinant protein production from the methyltrophic yeast Pichia pastoris during cell density fermentation and optimization of fermentation conditions |
| Fernando Osorio | Animal virus pathogenesis |
| Asit Pattnaik | Molecular biology of RNA viruses, virus-host cell interactions, attenuated viruses |
| Jim Van Etten | Molecular characterization of algal viruses |
| Anne Vidaver | Biology of host plant-microbe interaction |
