Wayne P. Wahls, Ph.D.

Mari Davidson, Wesley Wahls, Reine Protacio, Wayne Wahls, Tresor Mukiza, Aaron Storey, Melissa Sorsby, Hsin-Ping Wang

During meiosis, homologous chromosomes replicate once, pair, enjoy a high rate of recombination, and undergo two rounds of chromosome segregation to produce haploid meiotic products. We use a combination of genetic, molecular, biochemical, cytological and proteomic approaches to study meiotic chromosome dynamics in fission yeast. Our primary focus is on how recombination hotspots and chromatin remodeling regulate recombination throughout the genome. We are also investigating how complexes of meiotic recombination enzymes assemble and function. A third focus is on the relationship between recombination, sister chromatid cohesion, and proper segregation of chromosomes in each meiotic division.

Proteins of the ATF/CREB/AP-1 family are components of signal transduction pathways that monitor intracellular and extracellular conditions and transmit those signals to downstream targets. These proteins share a conserved bZIP domain that mediates both protein dimerization and sequence-specific DNA binding activity. We are interested in how these protein-DNA complexes regulate chromatin structure, transcription and RNA decay, and how cross-talk between pathways confers plasticity to environmental stress responses.

Storey A.J., H.P. Wang, R.U. Protacio, M.K. Davidson, A.J. Tackett, and W.P. Wahls (2018).  Chromatin-mediated regulators of meiotic recombination revealed by proteomics of a recombination hotspot.  Epigenetics & Chromatin 11:64.  [Abstract]

Kriss C.L., E. Gregory-Lott, A.J. Storey, A.J. Tackett, W.P. Wahls, and S.M. Stevens Jr (2018).  In vivo metabolic tracing demonstrates the site-specific contribution of hepatic ethanol metabolism to histone acetylation.  Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research 42:1909-1923.  [Abstract]

Wahls W.P. (2018).  The NIH must reduce disparities in funding to maximize its return on investments from taxpayers (2018).  eLife 7:e34965  [Abstract]

Protacio R.U., A.J. Storey, M.K. Davidson, and W.P. Wahls (2015).  Nonsense codon suppression in fission yeast due to mutations of tRNA(Ser.11) and translation release factor Sup35 (eRF3).  Current Genetics 61:165-173.  [Abstract]

Gao J., J.L. Wagnon, R.M. Protacio, G.V. Glazko, M. Beggs, V. Raj, M.K. Davidson, and W.P Wahls (2013).  A stress-activated, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase-ATF/CREB pathway regulates posttranscriptional, sequence-dependent decay of target RNAs.  Molecular and Cellular Biology 33:3026-35.  [Abstract]

Wahls W.P. and M.K. Davidson (2012). New paradigms for conserved, multifactorial, cis-acting regulation of meiotic recombination (2012). Nucleic Acids Research 40:9983-9.  [Abstract]

Kan F., M.K. Davidson, and W.P. Wahls (2011). Meiotic recombination protein Rec12: functional conservation, crossover homeostasis and early crossover/non-crossover decision. Nucleic Acids Research 39:1460-1472.  [Abstract]

Complete List of Published Work in My Bibliography