Biochemistry

Judy D. Wall

Professor of Biochemistry
Joint Professor of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology

E-mail:wallj@missouri.edu

Office: 214 Schweitzer Hall

Mail: Biochemistry
117 Schweitzer Hall
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211

Phone: 573-882-8726

Fax: 573-882-5635

Lab: 573-882-9771

Educational background

Curriculum vitae

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Notable honors and service

• Fellow, American Academy for the Advancement of Science
• Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology
• Board of Governors, American Academy of Microbiology
• Editor-in-Chief, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 1995-01
• American Society for Microbiology Chair/Elect & Chair Division K 1990-92
• Editorial Boards
  • Environmental Microbiology (2005-08)
  • Journal of Bacteriology (1988-96; 2007-10)
  • Applied and Environmental Microbiology (1992-93; 2003-09; Editor 1993-95)
  • Annual Review of Microbiology (1997-2001)
• Conference organization
  • Organizer, 6th Annual Conference for the Molecular Biology Conference, Molecular Biology of Photosynthetic Prokaryotes, 1980
  • Organizing Committee, International Symposium on Photosynthetic Prokaryotes, 1988-94
  • Gordon Research Conference on Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Co-Chair, 2001; Chair, 2003
  • Co-Organizer, Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria Genome Sequencing Jamboree, 2003
  • Member Working Group for EU-US Environmental Biotechnology Taskforce, 1994-present

Research summary

The laboratory looks at metabolism of toxic metals by bacteria that may contribute to the bioremediation of contaminated soils and groundwater.

Research description

Have you ever come across a stagnant pool that smelled like rotten eggs when you disturbed it? Or, have you wondered why iron pipes corrode in soil? Both the smell and the corrosion are caused by the sulfate-reducing bacteria that derive energy not from oxygen, but from sulfate, which is reduced to hydrogen sulfide. Do these bacteria only cause problems? Probably not, because we believe they can assist bioremediation, the destruction of toxic contaminants in the environment. Since oxygen kills these bacteria, all work with them must be carried out in the absence of air. Obviously, none but the most committed (stubborn) would work with them.

We are investigating the genetics and metabolism of hydrogen, iron, and sulfate in these bacteria. Just how do they make energy and is hydrogen an important intermediate in their metabolism as well as a substrate? How do they corrode iron? Metallic iron can serve as reductant and the Fe2+ produced is water soluble, until it is irrevocably precipitated by the sulfide ions also produced by the bacteria. Are the bacteria caught in a vicious cycle of removing iron that they need for growth, by the sulfide that is produced during growth? Do they need an iron acquisition system to grow?

The laboratory is also looking at metabolism of toxic metals by these bacteria that may contribute to the bioremediation of contaminated soils and groundwater. These bacteria convert a soluble form of uranium to an insoluble form that precipitates from water. Can we understand how this occurs? Can we increase the rate that this happens? Is the insoluble form used or is it inert forever? Many questions drive the research. Our studies abound with Southerns, cloning, PCRs, transposons, and problems. What we need now is a little intelligent help in understanding these fascinating and challenging organisms.

Selected publications

Hemme, C.L., and J.D. Wall. 2004 Genomic insights into the gene regulation of Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough. Omics 8:1-13.

Wall, J.D. 2004. Rain or shine—a phototroph that delivers. Nature Biotechnol. 22:40-41.

Payne, R.B., L.Casalot, T.Rivere, J.H. Terry, and J.D. Wall. 2004. Interaction between uranium and the cytochrome c3 of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans strain G20. Arch. Microbiol. 181:398-406.

Payne, R.B., C.L. Hemme, and J.D. Wall. 2004. A new frontier in genomic research. World Pipelines 4:53-55.

Chhabra, S.R., He, Q., Huang, K.H., Gaucher, S.P., Alm, E.J., He, Z., Hadi, M.Z., Hazen, T.C., Wall, J.D., Zhou, J., Arkin, A.P. and A.K. Singh. 2006. Global Analysis of Heat Shock Response in Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough. J. Bacteriol. 188:1817-28.

Pattarkine, M.V., J.J. Tanner, C.A. Bottoms, Y.-H. Lee, and J.D. Wall. 2006. Desulfovibrio desulfuricans G20 tetraheme cytochrome structure at 1.5Å and cytochrome interaction with metal complexes. J. Mol. Biol. 358(5):1314-1327.

Wall, J.D., and L.R. Krumholz 2006. Uranium reduction. Annu Rev Microbiol. 60:167-185.

Walker, C.B., S.S. Stolyar, N. Pinel, H.C.B. Yen, Z. He, J. Zhou, J.D. Wall, and D.A. Stahl. 2006. Recovery of temperate Desulfovibrio vulgaris bacteriophage using a novel host strain. Environ. Microbiol. 8:1950-1959.

Bender, K.S., H.C.B. Yen, C.L. Hemme, Z. Yang, Z. He, J. Zhou, K.H.Huang, E.J. Alm, T.C. Hazen, A.P. Arkin, and J.D. Wall. 2007. Analysis of a ferric uptake regulator (Fur) mutant of Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: doi:10.1128/AEM.00276-07

Klonowska, A.; Clark, M.E.; Thieman, S.B.; Giles, B.J.; Wall, J.D.; Fields, M.W. (2008) Hexavalent chromium reduction in Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough causes transitory inhibition of sulfate reduction and cell growth. Appl. Microbiol. Biotech., 78(6):1007-1016

Wall, J.D., Arkin, A.P., Balci, N.C. and Rapp-Giles, B. (2009) Genetics and genomics of sulfate respiration in Desulfovibrio. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, Microbial Sulfur Metabolism (1):1-12

Elias, D.A, A. Mukhopadyay, M. Joachimiak, E.C. Drury, A.M. Redding, H.C.B. Yen, M. Fileds, T.C. Hazen, A.P. Arkin, J. Keasling and J.D. Wall.. (2009) Expression profiling of hypothetical genes in Desulfovibrio vulgaris leads to improved functional annotation. Nuc. Acids Res. 37(9):2926-39.