Research:
James T. Staley received a B.A. degree at the University of Minnesota, a M.Sc. from Ohio State University and Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. He held academic appointments at Michigan State University and the University of North Carolina before coming to the University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Staley serves as Chairman of Bergey's Manual Trust and is a member of the editorial boards of Geomicrobiology, Environmental Microbiology and Biodiversity and Conservation. Dr. Staley is a member of the American Academy of Microbiology and co-author of a textbook in general microbiology entitled Microbial Life. Dr. Staley’s major research area is microbial biodiversity. Within this broad topic area, he has interests in microbial ecology, evolution and the taxonomy of Bacteria and Archaea. Current research activities in the lab are focused on: (a) genomics of unusual bacteria from the phyla Verrucomicrobia and Planctomycetes as well as sea ice bacteria from the phyla Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, (b) studies of the bacteria involved in nitrogen cycling in the suboxic zone of the Black Sea, and (c) the evolution and biogeography of microorganisms.
The lab recently discovered homologs for alpha- and beta-tubulin in the genus Prosthecobacter, a member of the Verrucomicrobia. These tubulin genes, which encode for microtubules in all eukaryotes, have not been previously reported in any other members of the Bacteria or Archaea. The tubulin genes are expressed in Prosthecobacter and their evolution and function is the subject of ongoing investigations.
Recent studies of the Planctomycetes in the Black Sea indicate there is greater diversity of this phylum in the Black Sea than has been previously reported globally. Among the Planctomycetes in the Black Sea are members of the anammox (anaerobic ammonia oxidizing) bacteria as well as new clades from this phylum whose function remains unknown but is under investigation.
The Black Sea studies as well as the evolutionary studies in the lab are important topic areas in Astrobiology. For example, the redox gradient of the Black Sea serves as an analog for early Earth conditions as well as possible redox and metabolic gradients that may be found on anoxic planetary bodies such as Mars and Jupiter’s moon, Europa.
The lab is also involved with three psychrophilic sea ice bacterial genomes that are being sequenced. These are of astrobiological interest because of what information they might provide scientists about the adaptation of living organisms to low temperature conditions on other planetary bodies.
Another facet of microbial evolution the lab is interested in is the study of cell division as it relates to FtsZ, the protein found in most members of the Bacteria as well as the Euryarchaeota.
Selected Publications:
Jenkins, C., R. Samudrala, I. Anderson, B. P. Hedlund, G. Petroni, N. Michailova, N. Pinel, R. Overbeek,, G. Rosati and J. T. Staley. 2002. Genes for the cytoskeletal protein tubulin in the bacterial genus Prosthecobacter. PNAS 99: 17049-17054. Faculty of 1,000 selected publications.
Chistoserdova, L. C. Jenkins, M. Kalyuzhnaya, C. J. Marx, A. Lapidus, J. A. Vorholt, J. T. Staley and M. E. Lidstrom 2004. The enigmatic Planctomycetes may hold a key to the origins of methanogenesis and methylotrophy. Mol. Biol. Evol. 21: 1234-1241.
StaleyJ. T., H. Bouzek and C. Jenkins. 2005. Eukaryotic signature proteins of Prosthecobacter dejongeii and Gemmata Wa-1. FEMS Microbiology Letters 243: 9-14.
Sontag, C., J.T. Staley and H. E. Erickson. In vitro assembly and GTP hydrolysis by bacterial tubulins, BtubA and BtubB. J. Cell Biol. In press.
Kirkpatrick, J., B. Oakley, S. Srinivasan, C. Fuchsman, J. Murray and J. T. Staley. Novel deep-branching planctomycete lineages discovered in the Black Sea suboxic zone using environmental cloning and enrichment cultivation. In preparation.
|
