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3258 TAMU Office: Lab: Fax: 979-845-2891 |
Biography |
| Wayne Versaw received a B.S. in Food Science and Technology (1987) and an M.S. in Biochemistry (1990) from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He received a Ph.D. in Biomolecular Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1995. He held postdoctoral and Senior Research Associate positions in Maria Harrison's laboratory in the Plant Biology Division of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation before joining the Department of Biology at Texas A&M University in 2003. He is also a member of the Molecular and Environmental Plant Sciences (MEPS) Faculty and the Program for the Biology of Filamentous Fungi. | |
| Transport and Cellular Compartmentalization | |
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Compartmentalization of metabolic pathways and other cellular functions is a hallmark of eukaryotic cells. This feature is extreme in plants due to the presence of organelles not found in most other eukaryotes - plastids. Plastids are a diverse group of interrelated organelles that perform a wide range of metabolic functions including photosynthesis, nitrogen and sulfur assimilation and the synthesis of amino acids, starch and fatty acids. These functions are coordinated with metabolic processes in the cytosol through dynamic exchange of metabolites and ions across the plastid inner envelope membrane. My lab is studying phosphate (Pi) transport processes that link the metabolic pathways in the plastid and cytosol. The concentrations of Pi in the cytosol and plastid stroma influence photosynthesis and the partitioning and storage of fixed carbon. Transporters involved in the movement of Pi across the plastid inner membrane include members of the pPT, PHT2 and PHT4 families. We are using genetics, cell biology, biochemistry and molecular physiology to investigate the function and physiological roles of these transporters. Recent findings suggest that some members of the PHT4 family are targeted to chloroplasts, whereas others function in heterotrophic plastids and one resides in the Golgi apparatus. Other projects in the lab include the genetic and biochemical characterization of Pi transport processes in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa. Mutants with altered phosphate uptake properties have been isolated, and these have led to the identification of Pi transporter genes, as well as genes with putative regulatory functions. |
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| Selected Publications | |
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Guo, B., Jin, Y., Wussler, C., Blancaflor, E.B., Motes C.M., and Versaw, W.K. (2008) Functional analysis of the Arabidopsis PHT4 family of intracellular phosphate transporters. New Phytol. 177: 889-898. Jin, Y., Allan, S., Baber, L., Bhattarai, E.K., Lamb, T.M., and Versaw, W.K. (2007) Rapid genetic mapping in Neurospora crassa. Fungal Genet. Biol. 44: 455-465. Beasley, A.K., Lamb, T.M., Versaw, W.K., and Bell-Pedersen, D. (2006) A rasbd Mauriceville strain for mapping mutations in Oak Ridge rasbd strains. Fungal Genet. Newsl. 53: 30-33. Zhao, L., Versaw, W.K., Liu, J. and Harrison, M.J. (2003) A phosphate transporter from Medicago truncatula is expressed in the photosynthetic tissues of plants and located in the chloroplast envelope. New Phytologist 157: 291-302. Versaw, W.K. and Harrison, M.J. (2002) A chloroplast phosphate transporter, PHT2;1, influences allocation of phosphate within the plant and phosphate-starvation responses. Plant Cell 14: 1751-1766. Versaw, W.K., Chiou, T. and Harrison, M.J. (2002) Phosphate transporters of Medicago truncatula and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Plant and Soil 244: 239-245. Versaw, W.K. and Metzenberg, R.L. (1996) Activator-independent gene expression in Neurospora crassa. Genetics 142: 417-423. Versaw, W.K. and Metzenberg, R.L. (1996) Intracellular phosphate-water oxygen exchange measured by mass spectrometry. Anal. Biochem. 241: 14-17. Versaw, W.K. and Metzenberg, R.L. (1995) Repressible cation-phosphate symporters in Neurospora crassa. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92: 3884-3887. Versaw, W.K. (1995) A phosphate-repressible, high-affinity phosphate permease is encoded by the pho-5+ gene of Neurospora crassa. Gene 153: 135-139. |
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