Beth Mullin, Ph.D.
Research Statement
Qam a plant physiologist/cell and molecular biologist with major interests in symbiotic nitrogen fixation, gene expression, genome organization and molecular evolution. Projects currently underway in my laboratory are:
- a study of the plant and bacterial genes involved in the establishment and maintenance of nitrogen-fixing symbioses
- Genomics of the actinomycete Frankia
- Evolution of symbiosis
- Phytoremediation
Current projects are funded by NRI-CGP and CPBR/EPA.
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.
Pawlowski K, Twigg PG, Dobritsa SV, Guan G-H and Mullin BC (1997) A nodule-specific gene family from Alnus glutinosa encodes glycine and histidine-rich proteins expressed in the early stages of actinorhizal nodule development. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 10: 656-664.
Swensen SM and Mullin BC (1997) Phylogenetic relationships among actinorhizal plants: The impact of molecular systematics and implications for the evolution of actinorhizal symbioses. Physiologia Plantarum 99: 565-573.
Oh B, Twigg PG, Hong JS, Mullin BC and An CS (1997) nifV is contiguous to nifHDK in Frankia strain FaCl. Physiologia Plantarum 99: 707-713.
Swensen SM and Mullin BC (1997) The impact of molecular systematics on hypothesis for the evolution of root nodule symbioses and implications for expanding symbioses to new host plant species. Plant and Soil 194: 185-192.
Mullin BC and Dobritsa SV (1996) Molecular analysis of actinorhizal symbiotic systems: Progress to date. Plant and Soil Science 186: 9-20.
Dobritsa SV and Mullin BC (1996) In vitro expression of actinorhizal nodulin AgNOD-GHRP and demonstration of its toxicity in E. coli. In: Biology of Plant-Microbe Interactions. Eds. G. Stacey, B. Mullin, and P. M. Gresshoff. p. 423-429.
Stacey G, Mullin BC and Gresshoff PM, eds. (1996) Biology of Plant-Microbe Interactions. APS Press, Minneapolis.
Hong JS, Mullin BC and An CS (1996) Physical and genetic map of a major nif gene cluster from Frankia strain FaCl. Mol. and Cell. 6: 279-284.
Mullin BC (1995) Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation, a book review. Soil Science 160:385-387.
Soltis DE, Soltis PS, Morgan DR, Swensen SM, Mullin BC, Down JM and Martin PG (1995) Chloroplast gene sequence data suggest a single origin of the predisposition for symbiotic nitrogen fixation in angiosperms. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 92:2647-2651.
Contact Information
Office:
Room 620
Science & Engineering
Phone: (865) 974-6203
Lab:
Room 621
Science & Engineering
Phone: (865) 974-6203
Email: bmullin@utk.edu