Dr. Anna Glasgow Karls

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University of Georgia
College of Arts and Sciences
Microbiology
Associate ProfessorAppointed: 2000

Mailing Address

Department of Microbiology
Rm. 255, Biological Sciences Building
1000 Cedar Street
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia 30602-2605
United States

Contact Information

Phone: (706) 583-0822
Fax: (706) 542-2674
akarls@uga.edu

Qualifications

Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, Molecular Biology, 1986.
B.S., Georgetown University, Biology, 1980.

Expertise and Research Interests

The research in my laboratory is on DNA rearrangements that regulate gene expression. We have identified a unique family of DNA recombinases, the Piv/MooV family that includes site-specific recombinases and transposases. We utilize genetic and biochemical approaches to determine recombination mechanisms for the Piv/MooV DNA recombinases. Our current work focuses on three members of the Piv/MooV family. Piv, a site-specific recombinase, mediates inversion of a chromosomal segment that controls expression of virulence factors in the human eye pathogen, Moraxella lacunata. MooV, a DNA transposase, catalyzes reversible excision of the transposable element IS492, which regulates extracellular polysaccharide expression in the marine biofilm-forming bacterium, Pseudoalteromonas atlantica. Irg is the transposase for ISNgo2 and ISNgo3, which are found in the pathogenic Neisseria, and may act as the integrase for the filamentous phage MDA. Definition of the molecular mechanisms for DNA recombination mediated by the recombinases of the Piv/MooV family will significantly contribute to understanding the numerous uncharacterized DNA rearrangements that are involved in medically important processes, ranging from microbial pathogenesis to oncogenesis, and may provide new targets for development of therapeutics.

Keywords

COS Keywords:

Bacteriology, DNA, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Protein Structure.

Additional Terms:

Protein Structure/Function, Regulation of Antigenic and Phase Variation, Specialized DNA Recombination.

Memberships

American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Society for Microbiology

Honors and Awards

2001, Margret M. Green Award for Teaching Excellence in Microbiology, American Society for Microbiology-Southeastern Branch
1994-1997, Junior Faculty Research Award, American Cancer Society
1991-1996, Presidential Young Investigator Award, National Science Foundation
1986-1990, American Cancer Society Post-doctoral Fellowship, California Institute of Technology
1986, National Research Award Fellowship, California Institute of Technology

Previous Positions

1999-2000, Associate Professor, Emory University, School of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology
1992-1999, Assistant Professor, Emory University, School of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology
1990-1992, Assistant Professor, Pomona College, Biology
1986-1990, Post-doctoral Fellow, California Institute of Technology, Biology
1981-1986, Research Assistant, University of Wisconsin-Madison, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Bacteriology

Funding Received

  • National Science Foundation (NSF): Presidential Young Investigator Award, $200,174, Jul 15, 1991 to Dec 31, 1996.
  • American Cancer Society (ACS): Junior Faculty Research Award, $82,500, Jul 1, 1994 to Jun 30, 1997.
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH): R01, Novel Mechanisms for DNA Inversion and Transposition, $618,000, Jan 1, 2001 to Dec 31, 2005.
  • National Science Foundation (NSF): Transposition of IS492 and Regulation of Extracellular Polysaccharide in Pseudoalteromonas atlantica, $207,183, Aug 1, 1999 to Jul 31, 2002.
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH): R29, Site-specific DNA Inversion in Moraxella lacunata, $350,000, Aug 1, 1993 to 31, 1998.
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH): Prophage-associated virulence factors in pathogenic Neisseria species, $100,000, 2007 to 2009.

Publications

  • Higgins, B.P., Carpenter, C.D., Karls, A.C. (2007) . Chromosomal context directs high-frequency precise excision of IS492 in Pseudoalteromonas atlantica., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 104, 1901
  • Skaar, E. P., LeCuyer, B., Lenich, A. G., Lazio, M. P., Perkins-Balding, D., Seifert, H. S., Karls, A.C. (2005) Analysis of the Piv Recombinase-Related Gene Family of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Journal of Bacteriology, 187, 1276-1286
  • Buchner, J., Robertson, A. E., Poynter, D. J., Denniston, S. S., Karls, A.C. (2005) Piv site-specific invertase requires a DEDD motif analogous to the catalytic center of the RuvC Holliday junction resolvases, Journal of Bacteriology, 187, 3431-3437
  • Tobiason DM, Buchner JM, Thiel WH, Gernert KM, Karls AC, Conserved amino acid motifs from the novel Piv/MooV family of transposases and site-specific recombinases are required for catalysis of DNA inversion by Piv, Molecular Microbiology, 39(3), 641-51, February 2001 Abstract
  • Glasgow AC, Alternation of Gene Expression, The Encyclopedia of Genetics, Academic Press, Eds. S. Brenner and J. Miller, 42-46, 2001
  • Perkins-Balding D, Duval-Valentin G, Glasgow AC, Excision of IS492 requires flanking target sequences and results in circle formation in Pseudoalteromonas atlantica, Journal of Bacteriology, 181(16), 4937-48, August 1999 Abstract
  • Tobiason DM, Lenich AG, Glasgow AC, Multiple DNA binding activities of the novel site-specific recombinase, Piv, from Moraxella lacunata, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 274(14), 9698-706, 1999 Abstract
  • Heinrich DW, Glasgow AC, Transcriptional regulation of type 4 pilin genes and the site-specific recombinase gene, piv, in Moraxella lacunata and Moraxella bovis, Journal of Bacteriology, 179(23), 7298-305, December 1997 Abstract
  • Perkins-Balding D, Dias DP, Glasgow AC, Location, degree, and direction of DNA bending associated with the Hin recombinational enhancer sequence and Fis-enhancer complex, Journal of Bacteriology, 179(15), 4747-53, August 1997 Abstract
  • Lenich AG, Glasgow AC, Amino acid sequence homology between Piv, an essential protein in site-specific DNA inversion in Moraxella lacunata, and transposases of an unusual family of insertion elements, Journal of Bacteriology, 176(13), 4160-4, July 1994 Abstract
  • Marrs CF, Rozsa FW, Hackel M, Stevens SP, Glasgow AC, Identification, cloning, and sequencing of piv, a new gene involved in inverting the pilin genes of Moraxella lacunata, Journal of Bacteriology, 172(8), 4370-7, August 1990 Abstract
  • Sluka JP, Horvath SJ, Glasgow AC, Simon MI, Dervan PB, Importance of minor-groove contacts for recognition of DNA by the binding domain of Hin recombinase, Biochemistry, 29(28), 6551-61, 1990 Abstract
  • Glasgow AC, Miller JL, Howe MM, Bacteriophage Mu sites and functions involved in the inhibition of lambda::mini-Mu growth, Virology, 177(1), 95-105, July 1990 Abstract
  • Glasgow AC, Bruist MF, Simon MI, DNA-binding properties of the Hin recombinase, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 264(17), 10072-82, 1989 Abstract
  • Glasgow AC, Hughes KT, and Simon MI, Bacterial DNA Inversion Systems, Mobile DNA, American Society for Microbiology, Eds. D.E. Berg and M.M. Howe, 637-659, 1989
  • Johnson RC, Glasgow AC, Simon MI, Spatial relationship of the Fis binding sites for Hin recombinational enhancer activity, Nature, 329(6138), 462-5, October 1987 Abstract
  • Bruist MF, Glasgow AC, Johnson RC, Simon MI, Fis binding to the recombinational enhancer of the Hin DNA inversion system, Genes and Development, 1(8), 762-72, October 1987 Abstract

Profile Details

Last Verified: 3/10/2008

COS Expertise ID #1044620
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