|
|
|
David H. Slaymaker, Ph.D.
David Slaymaker (Associate
Professor) received his Ph.D in Genetics from the University of California -
Riverside in 1999 and his B.S. in Horticulture Science from Kansas State
University in 1993. Following receipt of his Ph.D, Dr. Slaymaker was a USDA
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Waksman Institute, Rutgers
University, NJ before joining William Paterson University
in Fall 2001. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of
general biology, biotechnology, and plant science.
Dr.
Slaymaker's research interests are 1) the ecological genetics and restoration
biology of Ammophila breviligulata
(American beachgrass) and 2) the molecular and biochemical mechanisms of
plant defense.
|
|
|
|
Research Projects
|
My
lab’s current focus is the study of genotypic diversity in natural and restoration
plantings of American beachgrass (Ammophila
breviligulata) as part of a collaborative study looking at the
adaptive potential of natural and restored beachgrass populations. New Jersey’s coastal dunes provide not
only natural beauty but also infrastructure protection for the state’s
coastal communities. Many plant
species play a role in colonizing and stabilizing coastal dunes, but the
predominant and most important plant species in New Jersey is A. breviligulata. To build and stabilize dunes as part of
coastal restoration efforts, monocultural restoration plantings are the
norm along the eastern US coast and in the Great Lakes region. Restoration efforts in New Jersey
specifically use the ‘Cape’ variety of
A. breviligulata. However, it
is generally believed that genetic diversity is important for the long-term
adaptability and sustainability of populations, and to promote the
formation of naturally functioning, species-rich ecosystems (Montalvo,
1997; Fridley et al., 2007).
Genetic diversity has also been shown to benefit short-term
establishment in some restoration populations (Williams, 2001). Recently, Fant et al. (2008) studied
genotypic diversity in natural and restored Great Lakes populations of A. breviligulata and found that
genotypic diversity was high in natural populations, but remained monocultural
in restored populations 8 and 16 years after planting. Our objective is two-fold. First, it is to determine whether a
lack of diversification is common to monocultural A. breviligulata restorations in New Jersey as was seen in
the Great Lakes region, and second, to investigate the roles of genotypic
diversity and phenotypic plasticity in the adaptive potential of natural
beachgrass populations to abiotic stresses commonly encountered by
beachgrass in the coastal dune habitat.
|
|
|
|
|
|
A
second research interest is the molecular basis of plant defense in
soybean. In particular, my lab
studies the interaction between soybean and a bacterial pathogen, Pseudomonas syringae pv. glycinea
(Psg). Psg
causes bacterial blight on soybean.
When Psg carries an
active copy of avirulence gene D (AvrD)
the bacterial cells produce a low molecular weight acyl-glycoside known
as the syringolide elicitor - which induces a defense response in soybean
cultivars that carry the resistance gene Rpg4. Research in our
lab aims to determine the role of three specific proteins in the AvrD:Rpg4-dependent defense response: GmEFH, GmGRP, and P34. GmEFH is a plant-specific
calcium-binding protein, GmGRP is a glycine-rich RNA-binding protein, and
P34 is the syringolide elicitor-binding protein. GmEFH and GmGRP were identified as
proteins that co-migrated with 2D-gel spots representing proteins that
were phosphorylated specifically during the syringolide-induced defense
response (Slaymaker and Keen, 2004).
P34 was identified and characterized by Ji et al. (1997 and 1998)
as the syringolide-binding protein and putative elicitor-receptor. Our goal is to investigate the
functional role for these three proteins using RNAi-mediated gene
silencing and protein overproduction in transgenic soybean plants.
|
|
|
|
Current Research
Students
·
Danielle Zeltner (U) and Yasmeen Saleh (U)
|
Past Research
Students
·
Kaitlin Tilney
(U), Luis Posadas (U), Nicole Fantauzzi (U), Phu Dinh (U), Chris DeNude
(U),Christian
Montes (U), Vincent DePaola (U), Suzan DelaCruz (U), Katie Banaszewsky
(U), Troy Parra (U), Issam Khairullah (U), Samira Ziaei (G), Craig Hoppey
(U)
|
|
|
Publications
|
|
Slaymaker,
D.H. and Hoppey, C.M. 2006. Reduced polysome levels and preferential
recruitment of a defense gene transcript into polysomes in soybean cells
treated with the syringolide elicitor. Plant Science 170(1): 54-60.
|
|
|
Slaymaker,
D.H. and Keen, N.T. 2004. Syringolide elicitor-induced oxidative burst
and protein phosphorylation in soybean cells, and tentative
identification of two affected phosphoproteins. Plant Science 166(2):
387-396.
|
|
|
Slaymaker,
D.H., Navarre, D.A., Clark, D., del Pozo, O., Martin, G.B. and Klessig,
D.F. 2002. The tobacco salicylic acid-binding protein 3 (SABP) is the
chloroplast carbonic anhydrase, which exhibits antioxidant activity and
plays a role in the hypersensitive defense response. Proc. Natl. Acad.
Sci. USA 99(18):11640-11645.
|
|
|
Klessig,
D.F., Kachroo, P., Slaymaker, D., Yoshioka, K., Navarre,
D.A., Kumar, D., and Shah, J. 2002. SA- and NO-mediated signaling in
plant disease resistance. In: Biology of Plant-Microbe Interactions, Vol
3. Leong, S.A.,
Allen, C., and Triplet E.W. eds. ISMPMI Press, St. Paul, Minn.
pp. 78-82.
|
|
|
Slaymaker,
D., and Keen, N.T. 2000. Perception of the syringolide elicitors by
soybean cells. In: Delivery and perception of pathogen signals in plants.
N. Keen, S. Mayama, J. Leach, and S. Tsuyumu eds. APS Press, St. Paul, Minn.
|
|
|
Ji, C.,
Boyd, C., Slaymaker, D., Okinaka, Y., Takeuchi, Y., Midland, S.L., Sims,
J.J., Herman, E., and Keen, N.T. 1998. Characterization of a 34-kDa
soybean binding protein for the syringolide elicitors. Proc. Natl. Acad.
Sci USA 95(6):3306-3311.
|
|
|
Ji, C.,
Okinaka, Y., Takeuchi, Y., Tsurushima, T., Buzzel, R.I., Sims, J.J.,
Midland, S.L., Slaymaker, D., Yoshikawa, M., Yamaoka, N., and Keen, N.T.
1997. Specific binding of the syringolide elicitors to a soluble protein
fraction from soybean leaves. Plant Cell 9(8): 1425-1433.
|
|
|
Yucel,
I., Slaymaker, D., Boyd, C., Murillo, J., Buzzel, R.I.,
and Keen, N.T. 1994. Avirulence gene avrPphC from Pseudomonas
syringae pv. phaseolicola 3121 - a plasmid-borne homologue of avrC
closely linked to an avrD allele. MPMI 7(5):677-679.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
