B. Tracy Nixon
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- 332 Frear South
University Park, PA - btn1@psu.edu
- 814-865-3679
Research Summary
Structural and functional basis of cellulose synthesis. Using Physcomitrella patens and other organisms as model systems, we are learning how plants make cellulose for building new cell wall. The studies use methods of molecular biology and cryoEM to characterize the enzyme as a monomer, and when it assembles into its larger 'Cellulose Synthase Complex '(CSC for short). The aim is to understand cellulose synthesis to explain fundamentals of cell wall biology in plants, and to enable manipulation of its synthesis for applications in fields of bioenergy and materials.
Huck Institutes Affiliations
Links
Most Recent Papers
Synthesis and self-assembly of cellulose microfibrils from reconstituted cellulose synthase
Sung Hyun Cho, Pallinti Purushotham, Chao Fang, Cassandra Maranas, Sara M. Díaz-Moreno, Vincent Bulone, Jochen Zimmer, Manish Kumar, B. Tracy Nixon, 2017, Plant physiology on p. 146-156
A single heterologously expressed plant cellulose synthase isoform is sufficient for cellulose microfibril formation in vitro
Pallinti Purushotham, Sung Hyun Cho, Sara M. Díaz-Moreno, Manish Kumar, B. Tracy Nixon, Vincent Bulone, Jochen Zimmer, 2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on p. 11360-11365
Comparative Structural and Computational Analysis Supports Eighteen Cellulose Synthases in the Plant Cellulose Synthesis Complex
B. Tracy Nixon, Katayoun Mansouri, Abhishek Singh, Juan Du, Jonathan K. Davis, Jung Goo Lee, Erin Slabaugh, Venu Gopal Vandavasi, Hugh O'Neill, Eric M. Roberts, Alison W. Roberts, Yaroslava G. Yingling, Candace H. Haigler, 2016, Scientific Reports
Structure of the cellulose synthase complex of Gluconacetobacter hansenii at 23.4 Å resolution
Juan Du, Venkata Vepachedu, Sung Hyun Cho, Manish Kumar, B. Tracy Nixon, 2016, PloS one
A structural study of CESA1 catalytic domain of arabidopsis cellulose synthesis complex
Venu Gopal Vandavasi, Daniel K. Putnam, Qiu Zhang, Loukas Petridis, William T. Heller, B. Tracy Nixon, Candace H. Haigler, Udaya Kalluri, Leighton Coates, Paul Langan, Jeremy C. Smith, Jens Meiler, Hugh O’Neill, 2016, Plant physiology on p. 123-135
Advancing Rhodobacter sphaeroides as a platform for expression of functional membrane proteins
Mustafa Erbakan, Brandon S. Curtis, B. Tracy Nixon, Manish Kumar, Wayne R. Curtis, 2015, Protein Expression and Purification on p. 109-117
In vitro synthesis of cellulose microfibrils by a membrane protein from protoplasts of the non-vascular plant Physcomitrella patens
Sung Hyun Cho, Juan Du, Ian Sines, Venkata Giridhar Poosarla, Venkata Vepachedu, Kabindra Kafle, Yong Bum Park, Seong H. Kim, Manish Kumar, B. Tracy Nixon, 2015, Biochemical Journal on p. 195-205
Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of the ATPase domain of the σ54-dependent transcription activator NtrC1 from aquifex aeolicus bound to the ATP analog ADP-BeFx
Tatyana A. Sysoeva, Neela Yennawar, Marc Allaire, B. Tracy Nixon, 2013, Acta Crystallographica Section F: Structural Biology and Crystallization Communications on p. 1384-1388
Nucleotide-induced asymmetry within ATPase activator ring drives Σ54-RNAP interaction and ATP hydrolysis
Tatyana A. Sysoeva, Saikat Chowdhury, Liang Guo, B. Tracy Nixon, 2013, Genes and Development on p. 2500-2511
Opening and closing of the bacterial RNA polymerase clamp
Anirban Chakraborty, Dongye Wang, Yon W. Ebright, You Korlann, Ekaterine Kortkhonjia, Taiho Kim, Saikat Chowdhury, Sivaramesh Wigneshweraraj, Herbert Irschik, Rolf Jansen, B. Tracy Nixon, Jennifer Knight, Shimon Weiss, Richard H. Ebright, 2012, Science on p. 591-595
High-Impact Papers
Phase transitions in the assembly of multivalent signalling proteins
Pilong Li, Sudeep Banjade, Hui Chun Cheng, Soyeon Kim, Baoyu Chen, Liang Guo, Marc Llaguno, Javoris V. Hollingsworth, David S. King, Salman F. Banani, Paul S. Russo, Qiu Xing Jiang, B. Tracy Nixon, Michael K. Rosen, 2012, Nature on p. 336-340
Opening and closing of the bacterial RNA polymerase clamp
Anirban Chakraborty, Dongye Wang, Yon W. Ebright, You Korlann, Ekaterine Kortkhonjia, Taiho Kim, Saikat Chowdhury, Sivaramesh Wigneshweraraj, Herbert Irschik, Rolf Jansen, B. Tracy Nixon, Jennifer Knight, Shimon Weiss, Richard H. Ebright, 2012, Science on p. 591-595
Comparative Structural and Computational Analysis Supports Eighteen Cellulose Synthases in the Plant Cellulose Synthesis Complex
B. Tracy Nixon, Katayoun Mansouri, Abhishek Singh, Juan Du, Jonathan K. Davis, Jung Goo Lee, Erin Slabaugh, Venu Gopal Vandavasi, Hugh O'Neill, Eric M. Roberts, Alison W. Roberts, Yaroslava G. Yingling, Candace H. Haigler, 2016, Scientific Reports
Engagement of Arginine Finger to ATP Triggers Large Conformational Changes in NtrC1 AAA+ ATPase for Remodeling Bacterial RNA Polymerase
Baoyu Chen, Tatyana A. Sysoeva, Saikat Chowdhury, Liang Guo, Sacha De Carlo, Jeffrey A. Hanson, Haw Yang, B. Tracy Nixon, 2010, Structure on p. 1420-1430
A structural study of CESA1 catalytic domain of arabidopsis cellulose synthesis complex
Venu Gopal Vandavasi, Daniel K. Putnam, Qiu Zhang, Loukas Petridis, William T. Heller, B. Tracy Nixon, Candace H. Haigler, Udaya Kalluri, Leighton Coates, Paul Langan, Jeremy C. Smith, Jens Meiler, Hugh O’Neill, 2016, Plant physiology on p. 123-135
Nucleotide-induced asymmetry within ATPase activator ring drives Σ54-RNAP interaction and ATP hydrolysis
Tatyana A. Sysoeva, Saikat Chowdhury, Liang Guo, B. Tracy Nixon, 2013, Genes and Development on p. 2500-2511
Coupling σ Factor Conformation to RNA Polymerase Reorganisation for DNA Melting
Patricia C. Burrows, Nicolas Joly, Wendy V. Cannon, Beatriz P. Cámara, Mathieu Rappas, Xiaodong Zhang, Kathleen Dawes, B. Tracy Nixon, Siva R. Wigneshweraraj, Martin Buck, 2009, Journal of Molecular Biology on p. 306-319
Functional roles of the pre-sensor I insertion sequence in an AAA+ bacterial enhancer binding protein
Patricia C. Burrows, Jörg Schumacher, Samuel Amartey, Tamaswati Ghosh, Timothy A. Burgis, Xiaodong Zhang, B. Tracy Nixon, Martin Buck, 2009, Molecular Microbiology on p. 519-533
A single heterologously expressed plant cellulose synthase isoform is sufficient for cellulose microfibril formation in vitro
Pallinti Purushotham, Sung Hyun Cho, Sara M. Díaz-Moreno, Manish Kumar, B. Tracy Nixon, Vincent Bulone, Jochen Zimmer, 2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on p. 11360-11365
ADPase activity of recombinantly expressed thermotolerant ATPases may be caused by copurification of adenylate kinase of Escherichia coli
Baoyu Chen, Tatyana A. Sysoeva, Saikat Chowdhury, Liang Guo, B. Tracy Nixon, 2009, FEBS Journal on p. 807-815