Jakob H. Waterborg

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University of Missouri-Kansas City
School of Biological Sciences
Cell Biology & Biophysics
Associate ProfessorAppointed: 1988
Professional Headshot of Jakob H. Waterborg

Mailing Address

Room 414 BSB
5100 Rockhill Road
Kansas City, Missouri 64110-2499
United States

Contact Information

Phone: (816) 235-2591
Fax: (816) 235-5158
Mobile: (913) 219-5414
waterborgj@umkc.edu

Qualifications

Ph.D., Catholic University of Nijmegen, Chemical Cytology, 1980.

Expertise and Research Interests

Research Areas
Structure-function relationships in chromatin, post-synthetic modification of histones by acetylation and methylation, assembly and stability of nucleosomal structure, evolution of histone variant functions.

Current Interests
Histones, small basic proteins that package DNA into nucleosomes and chromatin, strongly repress gene expression. We study the effects of dynamic and site-specific modification of core histones, especially of histones H3 and H4, on chromatin function. Many chromatin functions affect chromatin structure is specific ways, and distinct structural chromatin changes are required for specific functions. We focus primarily on those aspects involved in chromatin transcription: the dynamic modification and regulated stability of nucleosomes, and the assembly of nucleosomes with various functionally distinct core histone variants. A large part of this research is experimental, studying histone acetylation, methylation and protein turnover in a variety of model systems such as alfalfa and Arabidopsis, in algae like Chlamydomonas, in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and in Physarum polycephalum. Basic techniques include in vivo radiotracer labeling, HPLC and gel electrophoresis. This research is complemented by a broad evolutionary analysis of histone H3 variants with specific replication- and transcription-related functions. We have proposed that the emergence of replacement histone H3 variants in evolution represents a necessary step to allow development of complex multicellular organisms like animals and plants. Phylogenetic gene analysis across the tree of life is in progress to substantiate this hypothesis.

Keywords

COS Keywords:

Biological Sciences, Cell Biology, Plant Genetics, Protein Synthesis, Structural Biology, Transcription.

Languages

(Reading, Writing, Speaking)

Dutch: (Fluent, Fluent, Fluent)
German: (Fluent, Basic, Functional)
French: (Basic, None, Basic)

Memberships

American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
American Society of Plant Biologists
Genetics Society of America
International Society for Plant Molecular Biology

Publications

  • van Dijk K, Marley KE, Jeong BR, Xu J, Hesson J, Cerny RL, Waterborg JH, Cerutti H (Sep 2005) Monomethyl histone H3 lysine 4 as an epigenetic mark for silenced euchromatin in Chlamydomonas., The Plant Cell, 17 (9), 2439-53 Abstract
  • Kapros, K, Kelemen, Z, Waterborg, JH, Dudits, D (2005) Short polypyrimidine/purine sequences modulate tissue-specific control of a cell cycle variant alfalfa histone H3 gene promoter, Plant Science, 168, 789-795
  • Glowczewski L, Waterborg JH, Berman JG (Dec 2004) Yeast chromatin assembly complex 1 protein excludes nonacetylatable forms of histone H4 from chromatin and the nucleus., Molecular and Cellular Biology, 24 (23), 10180-92 Abstract
  • Song OK, Wang X, Waterborg JH, Sternglanz R (Oct 2003) An Nalpha-acetyltransferase responsible for acetylation of the N-terminal residues of histones H4 and H2A., The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 278 (40), 38109-12 Abstract
  • Kelemen Z, Mai A, Kapros T, Feher A, Gyorgyey J, Waterborg JH, Dudits D (Feb 2002) Transformation vector based on promoter and intron sequences of a replacement histone H3 gene. A tool for high, constitutive gene expression in plants., Transgenic Research, 11 (1), 69-72 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Kapros T (2002) Kinetic analysis of histone acetylation turnover and Trichostatin A induced hyper- and hypoacetylation in alfalfa., Biochemistry and Cell Biology = Biochimie Et Biologie Cellulaire, 80 (3), 279-93 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH (2002) Dynamics of histone acetylation in vivo. A function for acetylation turnover?, Biochemistry and Cell Biology = Biochimie Et Biologie Cellulaire, 80 (3), 363-78 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Dynamics of histone acetylation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Biochemistry, 40(8), 2599-605, 2001 Abstract
  • Chaubet-Gigot N, Kapros T, Flenet M, Kahn K, Gigot C, Waterborg JH, Tissue-dependent enhancement of transgene expression by introns of replacement histone H3 genes of Arabidopsis, Plant Molecular Biology, 45(1), 17-30, Jan 2001 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Steady-state levels of histone acetylation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 275(17), 13007-11, 2000 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Dynamics of histone acetylation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 273(42), 27602-9, 1998 Abstract
  • Robertson AJ, Kapros T, Waterborg JH, A cell cycle-regulated histone H3 gene of alfalfa with an atypical promoter structure, Dna Sequence, 7(3-4), 209-16, 1997 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Robertson AJ, Common features of analogous replacement histone H3 genes in animals and plants, Journal of Molecular Evolution, 43(3), 194-206, September 1996 Abstract
  • Robertson AJ, Kapros T, Dudits D, Waterborg JH, Identification of three highly expressed replacement histone H3 genes of alfalfa, Dna Sequence, 6(3), 137-46, 1996 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Robertson AJ, Tatar DL, Borza CM, Davie JR, Histones of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Synthesis, acetylation, and methylation., Plant Physiology, 109(2), 393-407, October 1995 Abstract
  • Kapros T, Robertson AJ, Waterborg JH, Histone H3 transcript stability in alfalfa., Plant Molecular Biology, 28(5), 901-14, 1995 Abstract
  • Kapros T, Robertson AJ, Waterborg JH, A simple method to make better probes from short DNA fragments, Molecular Biotechnology, 2(1), 95-8, August 1994 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Matthews HR, Fluorography of polyacrylamide gels containing tritium, Methods in Molecular Biology, 32, 163-7, 1994 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Matthews HR, The Lowry method for protein quantitation, Methods in Molecular Biology, 32, 1-4, 1994 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Matthews HR, The electrophoretic elution of proteins from polyacrylamide gels, Methods in Molecular Biology, 32, 169-75, 1994 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Robertson AJ, Efficient large-scale purification of restriction fragments by solute-displacement ion-exchange HPLC, Nucleic Acids Research, 21(12), 2913-5, 1993 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Dynamic methylation of alfalfa histone H3, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 268(7), 4918-21, 1993 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Histone synthesis and turnover in alfalfa. Fast loss of highly acetylated replacement histone variant H3.2, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 268(7), 4912-7, 1993 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Identification of five sites of acetylation in alfalfa histone H4, Biochemistry, 31(27), 6211-9, 1992 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Existence of two histone H3 variants in dicotyledonous plants and correlation between their acetylation and plant genome size, Plant Molecular Biology, 18(2), 181-7, January 1992 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Multiplicity of histone H3 variants in wheat, barley, rice and maize, Plant Physiology, 96, 453-458, 1991
  • Waterborg JH, Sequence analysis of acetylation and methylation in two histone H3 variants of alfalfa, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 265(28), 17157-61, 1990 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Involvement of cysteine residues in the electrophoretic mobility of histone H3 in acid-urea-Triton gels, Electrophoresis, 11(8), 638-41, August 1990 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Harrington RE, Winicov I, Dynamic histone acetylation in alfalfa cells. Butyrate interference with acetate labeling, Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta, 1049(3), 324-30, 1990 Abstract
  • Winicov I, Waterborg JH, Harrington RE, McCoy TJ, Messenger RNA induction and repression in cellular salt tolerance of alfalfa (Medicago sativa), Plant Cell Reports, 8, 8-11, 1989
  • Waterborg JH, Harrington RE, Winicov I, Differential histone acetylation in alfalfa (Medicago sativa) due to growth in NaCl: Responses in salt stressed and salt tolerant callus cultures, Plant Physiology, 90, 237-245, 1989
  • Winicov I, Maki DH, Waterborg JH, Riehm MR, Harrington RE, Characterization of the alfalfa (Medicago sativa) genome by DNA reassociation, Plant Molecular Biology, 10, 369-371, 1988
  • Waterborg JH, Winicov I, Harrington RE, Histone variants and acetylated species from the alfalfa plant Medicago sativa, Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 256(1), 167-78, July 1987 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Harrington RE, Western blotting of histones from acid-urea-Triton- and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels, Analytical Biochemistry, 162(2), 430-4, 1987 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Harrington RE, A standard multidimensional, easy-access data file structure for Apple II computers, Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, 23(3), 255-60, December 1986 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Matthews HR, Patterns of histone acetylation in Physarum polycephalum. H2A and H2B acetylation is functionally distinct from H3 and H4 acetylation, European Journal of Biochemistry, 142(2), 329-35, 1984 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Matthews HR, Intranuclear localization of histone acetylation in Physarum polycephalum and the structure of functionally active chromatin, Cell Biophysics, 5(4), 265-79, December 1983 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Fried SR, Matthews HR, Acetylation and methylation sites in histone H4 from Physarum polycephalum, European Journal of Biochemistry, 136(2), 245-52, 1983 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Matthews HR, Patterns of histone acetylation in the cell cycle of Physarum polycephalum, Biochemistry, 22(6), 1489-96, 1983 Abstract
  • Mende LM, Waterborg JH, Mueller RD, Matthews HR, Isolation, identification, and characterization of histones from plasmodia of the true slime mold Physarum polycephalum using extraction with guanidine hydrochloride, Biochemistry, 22(1), 38-51, 1983 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Matthews HR, Acetylation sites in histone H3 from Physarum polycephalum, FEBS Letters, 162, 416-419, 1983
  • Waterborg JH, Kuyper CM, Substrate specificity and mode of action of the zinc-metallo nuclease from Physarum polycephalum, Journal of Biochemistry, 92(5), 1655-61, November 1982 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Matthews HR, A more sensitive assay for histone deacetylase, Analytical Biochemistry, 122(2), 313-8, 1982 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Matthews HR, Control of histone acetylation. Cell-cycle dependence of deacetylase activity in Physarum nuclei, Experimental Cell Research, 138(2), 462-5, April 1982 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Poot M, Kuyper CM, Nucleic acids and related enzymes. Secretion of four alkaline DNases by plasmodia of Physarum polycephalum, Journal of Biochemistry, 88(6), 1715-21, December 1980 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Kuyper CM, Purification and enzymatic characterization of three endoDNase isoenzymes from Physarum polycephalum, Journal of Biochemistry, 87(2), 651-61, February 1980 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, Kuyper CM, Purification of an alkaline nuclease from Physarum polycephalum, Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta, 571(2), 359-67, 1979 Abstract
  • Waterborg JH, van Brakel HFW, Kuyper CMA, Differential synthesis of an alkaline endonuclease in Physarum polycephalum, Archives of Microbiology, 122, 195-200, 1979
  • Waterborg JH, Kuyper CM, Endonuclease activity in nuclei of Physarum polycephalum. Partial purification and characterization, Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta, 478(2), 224-33, 1977 Abstract

Profile Details

Last Updated: 12/9/2007

COS Expertise ID #571925
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