Department of Microbiology

About the Department

The Department of Microbiology in the College of Biological Sciences at UC Davis has a long and distinguished history, which began in 1952 when the Department of Bacteriology was formed. The Department is home to a diverse faculty whose research reflects the interdisciplinary nature of microbiology. Current faculty members utilize molecular genetics to study the biology of individual microbes and also use microbial and non-microbial models for the study of specific cellular processes, including recombination, stress responses, aging, cancer, DNA repair, and adaptive mutation. Research on various aspects of microbial development, host-microbe interactions, microbial metabolism, gene regulation and genomics are ongoing in a diverse range of bacteria and eukaryotic microbes.

Contact Information

Department of Microbiology
University of California
One Shields Ave
Davis, CA 95616
Phone - (530) 752-2626
Fax - (530) 752-9014

Doug Nelson (Chair)
266 Briggs Hall
dcnelson@ucdavis.edu
(530) 752-6183

Marina Rumiansev (MSO)
354 Briggs Hall
mkrumiansev@ucdavis.edu
(530) 752-7467

Departmental News

Dr. John Roth awarded the 2009 Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal from the Genetics Society of America!
Check out this Eureka Alert from the Kowalczykowski Lab: "Human DNA repair process recorded in action"
The Department of Microbiology welcomes two new Assistant Professors!
- Dr. Lorena Navarro joined the department in September.
- Dr. Lifeng Xu joined the department in November.
Dr. Chet Price joined the department as Professor Emeritus following his retirement from the Department of Food Science and Technology.

Recent Publications

Li, H., A. Granat, V. Stewart, and J. Gillespie. 2008. RpoS, H-NS, and DsrA influence EHEC hemolysin operon (ehxCABD) transcription in Escherichia coli O157:H7 strain EDL933. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 285:257-262.
Wrande M, Roth JR, Hughes D. (2008) Accumulation of mutants in "aging" bacterial colonies is due to growth under selection, not stress-induced mutagenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 105:11863–11868
K.-S. Ju and R.E. Parales. (2009). Application of nitroarene dioxygenases in the design of novel strains that degrade chloronitrobenzenes. Microbial Biotechnol. (In press)
Ehmsen, K.T. and Heyer, W.-D. (2008) Biochemistry of meiotic recombination. In: Recombination and Meiosis. Eds. R. Egel and D.-H. Lankenau. Springer-Verlag Berlin-Heidelberg, pp. 91-164.
Li, X. and Heyer, W.-D. (2008) Rad54 controls access to the invading 3'OH end after Rad51-mediated DNA strand invasion in homologous recombination in S. cerevisiae. Nucleic Acids Res. (in press)
Zhang, X.-P., Galkin, V.E., Yu, X., Egelman, E., and Heyer, W.-D. (2008) Loop 2 of S. cerevisiae Rad51 regulates filament formation and ATPaseactivity. Nucleic Acids Res. (in press)
Nimonkar, A.V., Özsoy, A.Z., Genschel, J., Modrich, P., and Kowalczykowski ,S.C. (2008). Human Exonuclease 1 and BLM Helicase Interact to Resect DNA and Initiate DNA Repair. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 105, 16906-16911
Dillingham, M.S. and Kowalczykowski, S.C. (2008). RecBCD enzyme and the repair of double-stranded DNA breaks. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev., 72,642–671.
Hilario, J., Amitani, I., Baskin, R.J., and Kowalczykowski, S.C. (2008). Direct imaging of human Rad51 nucleoprotein dynamics on individual DNA molecules. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (in press).

Recent Awards/Fellowships

Jodi Planck (Kowalczykowski Lab) was awarded an NIH postdoctoral fellowship

Lab Petitions

MIC-102L Petition


About the Department The Department of Microbiology in the College of Biological Sciences at UC Davis has a long and distinguished history, which began in 1952 when the Department of Bacteriology was formed. The Department is home to a diverse faculty whose research reflects the interdisciplinary nature of microbiology. Current faculty members utilize molecular genetics to study the biology of individual microbes and also use microbial and non-microbial models for the study of specific cellular processes, including recombination, stress responses, aging, cancer, DNA repair, and adaptive mutation. Research on various aspects of microbial development, host-microbe interactions, microbial metabolism, gene regulation and genomics are ongoing in a diverse range of bacteria and eukaryotic microbes.	Contact Information Department of Microbiology University of California One Shields Ave Davis, CA 95616 Phone - (530) 752-2626 Fax - (530) 752-9014 Doug Nelson (Chair) 266 Briggs Hall dcnelson@ucdavis.edu (530) 752-6183 Marina Rumiansev (MSO) 354 Briggs Hall mkrumiansev@ucdavis.edu (530) 752-7467

Departmental News Dr. John Roth awarded the 2009 Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal from the Genetics Society of America! Check out this Eureka Alert from the Kowalczykowski Lab: "Human DNA repair process recorded in action" The Department of Microbiology welcomes two new Assistant Professors! Dr. Lorena Navarro joined the department in September. Dr. Lifeng Xu joined the department in November. Dr. Chet Price joined the department as Professor Emeritus following his retirement from the Department of Food Science and Technology. Recent Publications Li, H., A. Granat, V. Stewart, and J. Gillespie. 2008. RpoS, H-NS, and DsrA influence EHEC hemolysin operon (ehxCABD) transcription in Escherichia coli O157:H7 strain EDL933. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 285:257-262. Wrande M, Roth JR, Hughes D. (2008) Accumulation of mutants in "aging" bacterial colonies is due to growth under selection, not stress-induced mutagenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 105:11863–11868 K.-S. Ju and R.E. Parales. (2009). Application of nitroarene dioxygenases in the design of novel strains that degrade chloronitrobenzenes. Microbial Biotechnol. (In press) Ehmsen, K.T. and Heyer, W.-D. (2008) Biochemistry of meiotic recombination. In: Recombination and Meiosis. Eds. R. Egel and D.-H. Lankenau. Springer-Verlag Berlin-Heidelberg, pp. 91-164. Li, X. and Heyer, W.-D. (2008) Rad54 controls access to the invading 3'OH end after Rad51-mediated DNA strand invasion in homologous recombination in S. cerevisiae. Nucleic Acids Res. (in press) Zhang, X.-P., Galkin, V.E., Yu, X., Egelman, E., and Heyer, W.-D. (2008) Loop 2 of S. cerevisiae Rad51 regulates filament formation and ATPaseactivity. Nucleic Acids Res. (in press) Nimonkar, A.V., Özsoy, A.Z., Genschel, J., Modrich, P., and Kowalczykowski ,S.C. (2008). Human Exonuclease 1 and BLM Helicase Interact to Resect DNA and Initiate DNA Repair. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 105, 16906-16911 Dillingham, M.S. and Kowalczykowski, S.C. (2008). RecBCD enzyme and the repair of double-stranded DNA breaks. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev., 72,642–671. Hilario, J., Amitani, I., Baskin, R.J., and Kowalczykowski, S.C. (2008). Direct imaging of human Rad51 nucleoprotein dynamics on individual DNA molecules. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (in press). Recent Awards/Fellowships Jodi Planck (Kowalczykowski Lab) was awarded an NIH postdoctoral fellowship Lab Petitions MIC-102L Petition