Kroos Lab Members

Assistant Professor of Research
	Ruanbao Zhou is an Assistant Professor of Research. He received his Ph.D. from Peking University in China. His first postdoc training was in Peter Wolk’s lab at MSU working on developmental biology of nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria. He joined the Kroos lab in July, 2001. He is currently working on regulated intramembrane proteolytic activation (RIP) of a novel type of membrane-tethered transcription factor, pro-sigma K, in Bacillus subtilis. He is very interested in RIP events in other organisms including cyanobacteria and higher plants. For more information and publications-click here. E-mail:zhour@msu.edu
Visiting Research Associates
	Bin Chen earned his M.S. degree in Biochemistry from Sichuan University, China and his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the Chengdu Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Currently, he is working on structure determination of a transcription factor SpoIIID/DNA complex by using NMR spectroscopy, trying to understand the mechanisms of transcriptional activation and repression by SpoIIID, a global regulator of mother cell gene expression during Bacillus subtilis sporulation. E-mail:chenbin1@msu.edu
	Mark Robinson is a postdoc interested in developmental gene regulatory networks and their evolution. He received his undergraduate degree in Zoology and Biochemistry from the University of Wales, Bangor, and his PhD from the University of Hertfordshire, UK. Currently, he is applying both experimental and computational approaches to genome-wide binding site prediction for two key transcription factors involved in M. xanthus development. He is also using comparative approaches to explore cis-regulatory evolution in the promoter of the dev operon. E-mail:blobby@msu.edu
PhD Candidates
	Paul Himes is a grad student in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics who joined the group in 2002.  His project focuses on examining the structure/function relationship of the Bacillus subtilis sporulation transcription factor SpoIIID.  Paul received his B.S. in microbiology from MSU in 2001. As an undergraduate, he examined the efficacy of a novel fatty acid as an antimicrobial agent against select pathogens under the direction of Dr. Elliot Ryser. E-mail:himespau@msu.edu
	Sheenu Mittal obtained her Master’s in Biotechnology from Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya in India. Using biochemical approaches (DNA affinity chromatography, chromatin immunoprecipitation, gel-shift assays, mass spectrometry), she has isolated and identified an activator protein, MrpC, required for expression of developmentally-regulated promoters, 4400 and 4499, in Myxococcusxanthus. Sheenu is currently investigating the roles of MrpC and another activator, FruA, in the expression of the C-signal-dependent 4400 promoter. E-mail:mittalsh@msu.edu
Biochemistry Research Trainee Program Graduate/Researcher
	Christina Cusumano received her undergraduate degrees (B.S. in Biological Sciences, B.A. in Italian Studies) from the University of California, San Diego. Following completion of the post-baccalaureate Biochemistry Research Trainee Program at Michigan State University, she has continued working on over-expression and purification of the Bacillus subtilis intramembrane-cleaving protease SpoIVFB. She determined the optimal purification procedure of SpoIVFB expressed in E. coli, and is currently conducting crystallization trials in order to solve the crystal structure. She will soon begin attending medical school. E-mail:cusuman7@msu.edu
Undergraduate Students
	Terry Barrett is a sophomore majoring in Lyman Briggs Physiology. She is studying whether the ability of M. xanthus to be transformed by a plasmid depends on the growth or developmental state of the bacteria. Ultimately, she is asking: does the expression of the dev operon during the developmental stage affect the cell’s ability to defend itself against Mx8 integration? E-mail:barre127@msu.edu
	Jun-seok Lee is an undergraduate majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology/Biotechnology. He has been working in the lab since Spring of 2007. His project is to identify transcription factors for the 4403 promoter, a C-signal-dependent promoter of Myxococcusxanthus . FruA is a protein that regulates gene expression in response to C-signaling. Previous work in the lab showed that the FruA DNA-binding domain binds to the 4403 promoter region. Jun-seok’s current experiments show that MrpC (a transcription factor essential for fruA expression) also binds to the 4403 promoter region. He is mapping the position of binding by performing gel shift assays with short DNA segments spanning the 4403 promoter region. E-mail:leejuns1@msu.edu
	Paul Luethy is a Biochemistry major and has been working in the Kroos lab since September 2007. He is working on creating a functional cysteine-less SpoIVFB. Why? If a functional enzyme without cysteine residues can be created, then a cysteine can be inserted anywhere in the enzyme. Once that is finished, the accessibility of water can be found with cysteine modifying reagents. However, what we think will be more important is to perform cross-linking experiments between the enzyme and substrate to determine how it binds in the active site. Paul enjoys science, but in his free time is an avid Packers, White Sox, and Spartans fan and also enjoys playing the saxophone. E-mail:luethypa@msu.edu

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