Thomas J. Silhavy
Encyclopedia
Thomas J. Silhavy is the Warner-Lambert Parke-Davis Professor of molecular biology
at Princeton University
. Silhavy is a bacterial geneticist
who has made fundamental contributions to several different research fields. He is best known for his work on protein secretion, membrane biogenesis, and signal transduction
. Using Escherichia coli
as a model system, his lab was the first to isolate signal sequence mutations, to identify a component of cellular protein secretion machinery, and an integral membrane component of the outer membrane assembly machinery, and to identify and characterize a two-component regulatory system. Current work in his lab is focused on the mechanisms of outer membrane biogenesis and the regulatory systems that sense and respond to envelope stress and trigger the developmental pathway that allows cells to survive starvation. He is the author of more than 200 research articles and three books.
Silhavy was elected to the National Academy of Sciences
in 2005.
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. Silhavy is a bacterial geneticist
Geneticist
A geneticist is a biologist who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a researcher or lecturer. Some geneticists perform experiments and analyze data to interpret the inheritance of skills. A geneticist is also a Consultant or...
who has made fundamental contributions to several different research fields. He is best known for his work on protein secretion, membrane biogenesis, and signal transduction
Signal transduction
Signal transduction occurs when an extracellular signaling molecule activates a cell surface receptor. In turn, this receptor alters intracellular molecules creating a response...
. Using Escherichia coli
Escherichia coli
Escherichia coli is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms . Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some serotypes can cause serious food poisoning in humans, and are occasionally responsible for product recalls...
as a model system, his lab was the first to isolate signal sequence mutations, to identify a component of cellular protein secretion machinery, and an integral membrane component of the outer membrane assembly machinery, and to identify and characterize a two-component regulatory system. Current work in his lab is focused on the mechanisms of outer membrane biogenesis and the regulatory systems that sense and respond to envelope stress and trigger the developmental pathway that allows cells to survive starvation. He is the author of more than 200 research articles and three books.
Silhavy was elected to the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
in 2005.
Honors
- 2008 Novitski Prize
- 2008 Associate Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
- 2005 Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 2002 Graduate Microbiology Teaching Award from American Society for Microbiology
Selected Publications
- Button JE, Silhavy TJ, Ruiz N (2006). "A suppressor of cell death caused by the loss of {sigma}E downregulates extracytoplasmic stress responses and outer membrane vesicle production in Escherichia coli" Journal of Bacteriology [Epub ahead of print]
- Ruiz N, Wu T, Kahne D, Silhavy TJ (2006). "Probing the barrier function of the outer membrane with chemical conditionality" ACSAmerican Chemical SocietyThe American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
Chemistry and Biology 1: 385-395.
- Ureta AR, Endres RG, Wingreen NS, Silhavy TJ (2006). "Kinetic analysis of the assembly of the outer membrane protein LamB in Escherichia coli mutants each lacking a secretion or targeting factor in a different cellular compartment" Journal of Bacteriology 189: 446-454.
- Gaal T, Mandel MJ, Silhavy TJ, Gourse RL (2006). "Crl facilitates RNA polymerase holoenzyme formation" Journal of Bacteriology 188: 7966-7970.
- Malinverni JC, Werner J, Kim S, Sklar JG, Kahne D, Misra R, Silhavy TJ (2006). "YfiO stabilizes the YaeT complex and is essential for outer membrane protein assembly in Escherichia coli" Molecular Microbiology 61: 151-164.
- Peterson CN, Carabetta VJ, Chowdhury T, Silhavy TJ (2006). "LrhA regulates rpoS translation in response to the Rcs phosphorelay system in Escherichia coli" Journal of Bacteriology 188: 3175-3181.
- Ruiz N, Kahne D, Silhavy TJ (2006). "Advances in understanding bacterial outer-membrane biogenesis" Nature reviews: Microbiology 4: 57-66.
- Isaac DD, Pinkner JS, Hultgren SJ, Silhavy TJ (2006). "The extracytoplasmic adaptor protein CpxP is degraded with substrate by DegP" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 102: 17775-17779.
- Justice SS, Hunstad DA, Harper JR, Duguay AR, Pinkner JS, Bann J, Frieden C, Silhavy TJ, Hultgren SJ (2005). "Periplasmic peptidyl prolyl cis-trans isomerases are not essential for viability, but SurA is required for pilus biogenesis in Escherichia coli" Journal of Bacteriology 187: 7680-7686.
- Peterson CN, Mandel MJ, Silhavy TJ (2005). "Escherichia coli starvation diets: essential nutrients weigh in distinctly" Journal of Bacteriology 187: 7549-7553.
- Ruiz N, Falcone B, Kahne D and Silhavy TJ (2005). "Chemical conditionality: a genetic strategy to probe organelle assembly" Cell 121: 307-317.
- Wu T, Malinverni J, Ruiz N, Kim S, Silhavy TJ and Kahne D (2005). "Identification of a multicomponent complex required for outer membrane biogenesis in Escherichia coli" Cell 121: 235-245.
- Ruiz N, Silhavy TJ (2005). "Sensing external stress: watchdogs of the Escherichia coli cell envelope" Current Opinion in Microbiology 8: 122-126.
- Mandel MJ and Silhavy TJ (2005). "Starvation for different nutrients in Escherichia coli results in differential modulation of RpoS levels and stability" Journal of Bacteriology 187: 434-442.
- Duguay AR, Silhavy TJ (2004). "Quality control in the bacterial periplasm" Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1694: 121-134.
- Batchelor E, Silhavy TJ, Goulian M (2004). "Continuous control in bacterial regulatory circuits" Journal of Bacteriology 186: 7618-7625.
- Peterson CN, Ruiz N and Silhavy TJ (2004). "RpoS proteolysis is regulated by a mechanism that does not require the SprE (RssB) response regulator phosphorylation site" Journal of Bacteriology 186: 7403-7410.
- Gibbs KA, Isaac DD, Xu J, Hendrix RW, Silhavy TJ, Theriot JA (2004). "Complex spatial distribution and dynamics of an abundant Escherichia coli outer membrane protein, LamB" Molecular Microbiology 53: 1771-1783.
- Lee YM, DiGiuseppe PA, Silhavy TJ, Hultgren SJ (2004). "P pilus assembly motif necessary for activation of the CpxRA pathway by PapE in Escherichia coli" Journal of Bacteriology 186: 4326-4337.
- Hand NJ and Silhavy TJ (2004). "Null mutations in a Nudix gene, ygdP, implicate an alarmone response in a novel suppression of hybrid jamming" Journal of Bacteriology 185: 6530-6539.
- Ruiz N and Silhavy TJ (2003). "Constitutive activation of the Escherichia coli Pho regulon upregulates rpoS translation in an Hfq-dependent fashion" Journal of Bacteriology 185: 5984-5992.
- Bowers CW, Lau F and Silhavy TJ (2003). "Secretion of LamB-LacZ by the signal recognition particle pathway of Escherichia coli" Journal of Bacteriology 185: 5697-5705.
- Shuman HA and Silhavy TJ (2003). "The art and design of genetic screens: Escherichia coli" Nature reviews: Genetics 4: 419-431.
- DiGiuseppe PA and Silhavy TJ (2003). "Signal detection and target gene induction by the CpxRA two-component system" Journal of Bacteriology 185: 2432-2440.
- Duguay AR, Silhavy TJ (2002). "Signal sequence mutations as tools for the characterization of LamB folding intermediates" Journal of Bacteriology 184: 6918-6928.
- Braun M and Silhavy TJ (2002). "Imp/OstA is required for cell envelope biogenesis in Escherichia coli" Molecular Microbiology 45: 1289-1302.
- Otto K and Silhavy TJ (2002). "Surface sensing and adhesion of Escherichia coli controlled by the Cpx-signaling pathway" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 99: 2287-2292.