Gregory S. May, Ph.D. 1984, Yale University The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Department of Pathology Contact Information Biographical Sketch

Research Interests:

• Fungal genetics
• Cell motility
• Fungal pathogenesis

In microbial eukaryotes mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs) play a central role in regulating cellular physiology in response to the changing extracellular environment. We are particularly interested in the role that MAPKs play during infectious growth of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. There are four MAPK genes in A. fumigatus and we know little about their role in regulating cellular responses to environmental stress and nutrient availability in this fungus. We have shown that the sakA MAPK gene regulates cellular responses to osmotic stress, heat shock, reactive oxygen species and environmental nitrogen. Using this MAPK gene as a model we are now determining how the remaining three MAPK genes regulate fungal cell physiology.

A research tutorial in my laboratory could involve studies of gene transcription through expression array studies, real time RT-PCR or Northerns. Other experiments might involve the construction of deletion mutants for components of MAPK signaling components or biochemical identification of proteins that compose MAPK signaling proteins.


Publications