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William Zerges, PhD

  • Professor, Biology

Research areas: Molecular mechanisms underlying the biogenesis of the thylakoid membrane compartment in the eukaryotic alga Chlamydomonas reinhardti

Contact information

Biography

Education

PhD (Princeton)

Research interests

We are investigating cell biological processes in the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. This unicellular green alga is a popular model organism for research of chloroplast biogenesis and photosynthesis. We have identified two novel chloroplast compartments with intriguingly similarities to the endoplasmic reticulum and stress granules.

Another project is studying translational control in the chloroplast.

Teaching activities

Cell Physiology
Advanced Genetics

Selected publications


10.1093/plphys/kiaf111

Sun, Y., Bakhtiari, S.,Valente-Paterno, M., Wu, Y., Nishimura, Y., Shen, W., Law, C., Dhaliwal, J.,Dai, D., Bui, K. H., and Zerges, W. (2024) Chloroplast biogenesis involvesspatial coordination of nuclear and organellar gene expression in Chlamydomonas.Plant Physiology. 10.1093/plphys/kiae256

Dhaliwal, J.S., Panozzo, C., Benard, L., and Zerges, W. (2022) An RNA granule fortranslation quality control in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Journal of CellScience. 135, jcs260388

Willmund, F.,Hauser, C., and Zerges, W. (2023) Translation and protein synthesis in thechloroplast. in The Chlamydomonas Sourcebook, Third Edition, pp. 467–508,Academic Press, 2, 467–508

Morel, E., Cui,L. Zerges,W  Wilkinson, KJ. 2021 Environmental Pollution 287:117594. Mixturesof rare earth elements show antagonistic interactions in Chlamydomonas reinhardtiidoi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117594. Environmental Pollution

Sun Y,.Valente-Paterno, M., Bakhtiaria, S, Law, C., Zhan, Y., and W. Zerges,Photosystem Biogenesis Is Localized to the Translation Zone in the Chloroplastof Chlamydomonas. The Plant Cell (2019) 31(12):3057-3072.

Zhan, Y.,Christophe H. Marchand, Alexandre Maes, Yi Sun, James Dhaliwal, James Uniacke,Simon Arragain, Nicholas D. Gold, Heng Jiang, Vincent Martin, Stéphane D.Lemaire, William Zerges (2018). Pyrenoid functions revealed by proteomicsin Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. PLoS ONE 13(2): e0185039

Simon, D.F., Domingos, R.F., Hauser C., Hutchins, C.M., Zerges W., K.JWilkinson. (2013) RNA-Seq analysis of the effects of metal nanoparticleexposure on the transcriptome of Chlamydomonas reinhardtiiAppliedEnvironmental Microbiology 79(16) 4774-85.

Bohne, A.-V., Schwarz, C., Schottkowski, M., Lidschreiber, M., Piotrowski, M.,Zerges, W. and Nickelsen, J. (2013). Reciprocal regulation of protein synthesisand carbon metabolism for thylakoid membrane biogenesis. PLoSBiology. 2013 11 (2): 1-18

Schottkowski, M, M. Peters, Yu Zhan, O. Rifai, Y. Zhang, and W. Zerges (2012)Biogenic membranes of the chloroplast in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Proceedingsof the National Academy of Sciences U S A 109(47):19286-19291.

Hutchins, C.M, Simon, DF, Zerges, W. and KJ Wilkinson. (2010) Transcriptomicsignatures in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as Cd biomarkers inmetal mixtures. Aquatic Toxicology 100(1):120-

Uniacke, J. and W. Zerges. 2009. Chloroplast protein targeting involveslocalized translation in ChlamydomonasProceedings ofthe National Academy of Sciences U S A 106(5):1349-44.

Simon DF, Descombes P, Zerges W, Wilkinson KJ. (2008) Global expressionprofiling of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii exposed to trace levelsof free cadmium. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 27(8):166875.

Uniacke, J. and W. Zerges (2008) Stress induces the assembly of RNA granules inthe chloroplast of Chlamydomonas reinhardtiiJournal ofCell Biology 182(4):6416.

Uniacke, J. andW. Zerges (2007) "Photosystem II Assembly and Repair Are DifferentiallyLocalized in Chlamydomonas." The Plant Cell 19(11): 364054.

 


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