Department of microbiology and molecular genetics
Faculty profile
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Mark S. Johnson 11021 Campus Street |
- PhD (biochemistry): University of Utah, 1984
- Current research interests
- Recent publications
- Teaching
Trained in classical enzymology and protein chemistry, my current focus is on how Escherichia coli senses energy generated by the electron transport chain, and signals this status to the chemotaxis cascade. All organisms struggle constantly to avoid thermodynamic equilibration or "cell death." To do this, they generate impressive amounts of energy by metabolizing chemicals (food) or by transducing light energy into high energy chemicals. The lowly single-celled bacterium must not only find food, but also a way to optimize the metabolism of the food. It is no surpise then, that some motile bacteria have a means by which to migrate towards higher concentrations of chemical foods (chemotaxis), as well as towards higher concentrations of oxygen (aerotaxis) or other electron acceptors for more energetic combustion of the food. We recently co-discovered an oxygen receptor in Escherichia coli that we named Aer (for aero-, energy- and redox taxis; see Rebbapragada et al., 1997). Our data suggests that this sensor monitors the energy production of the electron transport system and signals this status to the flagellar motor through the chemotaxis cascade. Some critical questions we are pursuing include: What component(s) of energy production (PMF; electron transport; redox state) does this sensor monitor? With what component(s) of the electron transport chain does this receptor interact? What is the quaternary structure? What is the topology of the receptor? What conformational changes occur on signaling? What interactions occur between the sensing region and the signaling region? What can this receptor tell us about oxygen sensing in higher organinsms?
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Taylor, B. L., Zhulin, I. B. and Johnson, M. S. 1999. Aerotaxis and Other Energy-Sensing Behavior in Bacteria. Ann. Rev. Microbiology. 53:103-128.
Taylor, B. L. and M. S. Johnson. 1998. Rewiring a receptor: Negative output from positive input. FEBS Letters. 425:377-381.
Zhulin, I. B., M. S. Johnson and B. L. Taylor. 1997. How do bacteria avoid high oxygen concentrations?. Bioscience Reports. 17:335-342.
Rebbapragada, A., M. S. Johnson, I. B. Zhulin, G. P. Harding, A. J. Zuccarelli, H. M. Fletcher and B. L. Taylor. 1997. Aer and Tsr transduce oxygen, redox, energy signals for Escherichia behavior. Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.U.S.A. 94:10541-10546.
Johnson, M. S., I. B. Zhulin, E. R. Gapuzan and B. L. Taylor. 1997. Oxygen-dependent growth of the obligate anaerobe Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough. J. Bacteriol. 179:5598-5601.
Frankel, R. B., D. A. Bazylinski, M. S. Johnson and B. L. Taylor. 1997. Magneto-aerotaxis in marine, coccoid bacteria. Biophys. J. 73:994-1000.
Zhulin, I. B., E. H. Rowsell, M. S. Johnson and B. L. Taylor. 1997. Glycerol elicits energy taxis of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. J. Bacteriol. 179:3196-3201.
Zhulin, I. B., V. A. Bespalov, M. S. Johnson and B. L. Taylor. 1996. Oxygen taxis and proton motive force in Azospirillum brasilense. J. Bacteriol. 178:5199-5204.
Lindbeck, J. C., E. A. Goulbourne, M. S. Johnson, and B. L. Taylor. 1995. Aerotaxis in Halobacterium salinarium is methylation dependent. Microbiology 141:2945-2953.
Johnson, M. S., E. H. Rowsell and B. L. Taylor. 1995. Investigation of transphosphorylation between chemotaxis proteins and the phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system. FEBS Letters. 374:161-164.
Wong, LS, M. S Johnson, LB Sandberg, and BL Taylor. 1995. Amino acid efflux in response to chemotactic and osmotic signals in Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol. 177:4342-4349.
Wong, L. S., M. S. Johnson, I. B. Zhulin and B. L. Taylor. 1995. Role of methylation in aerotaxis in Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol. 177:3985-3991.
Johnson, M.S. and B.L Taylor. 1993. Comparison of methods for specific depletion of ATP in Salmonella typhimurium, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 59:3509-3512.
Kuby, S. A., M. Hamada, M. S. Johnson, G. A. Russell, M. Manship, R. H. Palmieri, G. Fleming, D. S. Bredt, A. S. Mildvan. 1989. Studies on Adenosine Triphosphate Transphosphorylases. XVIII:Synthesis and Preparation of Peptides and Peptide fragments of Rabbit Muscle ATP-AMP Trans-phosphorylase (Adenylate Kinase) and their Nuc-leotide binding properties. J. Protein. Chem. 8:549-562.
Smith, J. M., Johnson, M. S. and Taylor, B. L. 1988. Signaling pathways in bacterial chemotaxis. Botanica Acta. 101:101-104.
Tribhuwan, R. C., Johnson, M. S. and Taylor, B. L. 1986. Evidence against direct involvement of cyclic GMP or cyclic AMP in bacterial chemotactic signaling. J. Bacteriol. 168:624-630.
Johnson, M. S. and Kuby, S.A. 1986. Studies on NADH(NADPH)-cytochrome c reductase (FMN-containing) from yeast: Steady-state kinetic properties of the flavoprotein from top-fermenting ale yeast. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 245:271-281.
Johnson, M. S. and Kuby, S.A. 1985. Studies on NADH(NADPH)-cytochrome c reductase (FMN-containing) from yeast: Isolation and physicochemical properties of the enzyme from top-fermenting ale yeast, J. Biol. Chem., 260:12341-12350.
Book chapters
Taylor, B. L. and M. S. Johnson. 1993. Universal Themes of Signal Transduction in Bacteria, p. 3-15. In J. Kurjan and B. L. Taylor (ed.), Signal Transduction: Prokaryotic and Simple Eukaryotic Systems, Academic Press, San Diego, Calif.
Johnson, M. S. and S. A. Kuby. 1991. Cytochrome c, quinone and cytochrome P-450 reductases, p. 285-313. In S. A. Kuby (ed.), Study of Enzymes, Volume II: Mechanism of Enzyme Action, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fl.
Medical and Graduate Cell Biology: Visual transduction, Olfaction and Bacterial Chemotaxis.
School of Medicine - Graduate School - Loma Linda University
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