Judith G. Berman, Ph.D.

Research Interests:

Morphogenesis in Candida albicans; Telomere function and genome integrity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and C. albicans.

My lab studies two different yeasts, the model eukaryote S. cerevisiae (bakers' yeast) and the human pathogen C. albicans. C. albicans is an important pathogen that causes both mucosal and systemic infections and that grows as both round yeast form elongated hyphae. The ability to grow with both morphologies is important for virulence. We are using molecular, cellular and genetic approaches to study genes important for C. albicans morphogenesis, with a special focus on genes important for connecting morphogenesis with the cell cycle and the cytoskeleton. In S. cerevisiae, we study telomeres, the chromosome ends, and the specialized silent chromatin that is associated with telomere-adjacent DNA. When cells lack telomerase, the enzyme that elongates telomeres, they undergo cellular senescence, 'aging' and eventually cell death. We have analyzed the checkpoint pathways that sense the status of telomeres/telomerase and signal cells to undergo the physiological changes associated with senescence. We are currently using C. albicans whole genome arrays and Comparative Genome Hybridization to study genome wide alterations that occur in response to different growth conditions and genetic states including exposure to antifungal drugs. on.

Selected Recent Publications:

• Selmecki, A., Forche, A., J. Berman. 2006. Aneupooidy and Isochromosome Formation in Drug Resistant Candida albicans. Science, 313:367-370.
• Selmecki, A., Bergmann, S. and J. Berman. 2005. Comparative Genome Hybridization reveals widespread aneuploidy in Candida albicans laboratory strains. Mol. Microbiol. 55:1553-65.
• Crampin, H., Finley, K., Gerami-Nejad, M., Court, H., Gale, C., Berman, J. and P. Sudbery. 2005. Candida albicans hyphae have a Spitzenkörper that is a distinct structure from the polarisome found yeast and pseudohyphae. J. Cell Sci. 118:2935-47.
• Bensen, E.S., Clemente-Blanco, A., Finley, K.R., Correa-Bordes, J., and Berman, J. 2005. The Mitotic Cyclins Clb2p and Clb4p Affect Morphogenesis in Candida albicans. Mol Biol Cell. 16:387-400.
• Ihmels, J., Bergmann, S., Gerami-Nejad, M., Yanai, I., Berman, J. and N. Barkai. 2005. Rewiring of the yeast transcriptional network through the evolution of motif usage. Science. 309:938-40.
• Finley, F. and Berman, J. 2005. Microtubules in C. albicans hyhpae drive nuclear dynamics and connect cell cycle progression to morphogenesis. Eukaryotic Cell, 4 (10): 1697-1711. Featured on the cover of the journal and highlighted in ASM News Nov. 2005.
• Ihmels, J. Bergmann, S., Berman, J. and N. Barkai. 2005. Comparative gene expression analysis by differential clustering approach: application to the Candida albicans transcription program. PloS Genetics. 1: e39;0380-0393.
• Enomoto, S., Glowczewski, L., Lew-Smith, J. and Berman, J.G. 2004. Telomore cap components influence the rate of senescence in telomerase-dificient yeast cells. Mol. Cell. Biol. 24:837-845.
• Gerami-Nejad, M., Berman, J. and Gale, C.A. 2004. Cassettes for the PCR-mediated construction of regulatable alleles in C. albicans. Yeast, 21:429-436.
• Sudbery, P., Gow, N. and J. Berman. 2004. The distinct morphogenic states of Candida albicans. Trends in Microbiology, 12:317-324.
• Bensen, E., Martin, S., Berman, J. and Davis, D.A. 2004. Transcriptional profiling in C. albicans reveals new adaptive responses to extracellular pH and functions for Rim101p. Mol. Microbiol. 54(5): 1335-1351.
• Glowczewski, L., Waterborg, J.H. and J. Berman. 2004. Yeast Chromatin Assembly Complex-1 Protein Excludes Non-Acetylatable Histone H4 from Chromatin and the Nucleus. Mol. Cell. Biol. 24: 10180-10192.
• Magee, P.T., Gale, C.A., Berman, J. and Davis, D. 2003. Molecular biological and genomic approaches to the study of pathogenic fungi. Infection & Immunity71:2299-2309.
• Enomoto, S., Glowczewski, L., Lew-Smith, J. and Berman, J.G. 2003. Telomore cap components influence the rate of senescence in telomerase-dificient yeast cells. Mol. Cell. Biol.24:837-845.
• Berman, J. and Sudbery, P.E. 2002. Candida albicans: a molecular revolution built on lessons from S. cerevisiae. Nature Reviews Genetics3:918-32.
  
• Bensen, E.S., Filler, S.G. & Berman, J. 2002. A forkhead transcription factor is important for both yeast and true hyphal growth in Candida albicans. Euk. Cell, i1(5):787-798.
  

 

Last modified on: August 8, 2006