509-335-2293, jab@wsu.edu

Professor of Biochemistry
Professor of Molecular Plant Sciences
Fellow of the Institute of Biological Chemistry

Ph.D. 1978, University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Research Interests

Highly unsaturated lipid molecules constitute approximately 50% of the hydrophobic membrane barriers, which delineate the compartments of plant cells, and they are major components of the light harvesting membranes of chloroplasts. Many lines of evidence indicate that these lipids are critically important for many membrane functions and, thus, for the proper growth and development of plants. In addition, lipid oils are a major form of carbon storage in seeds, and these vegetable oils have many commercial applications.

One of the research programs in my laboratory encompasses a diverse set of projects that have at their base our investigation of the biosynthesis and function of membrane and storage lipids in plants using Arabidopsis as a model. These projects include the isolation and characterization of genes that control the elongation, desaturation or other modifications of fatty acids. These genes have been used to produce transgenic plants with altered membrane compositions or improved vegetable oils. We have several research projects that focus on the roles of membrane lipids in the cell biology and physiology of plants using a large number of mutants with alterations in the lipid composition of their membranes. In addition, our isolation of jasmonate-deficient and jasmonate-responsive mutants of Arabidopsis has allowed us to make new discoveries about the involvement of jasmonate in pollen development, insect defense and non-host resistance against fungal pathogens. These discoveries have wide implications for plant biology in areas ranging from hybrid breeding to crop protection.

A second research program uses mutational analysis and molecular genetics to investigate lipid structure and membrane function in the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Mutants deficient in many steps of polyunsaturated fatty acid synthesis have been isolated and several of these display growth and neurological defects. Our mutants provide new tools to understand the roles of polyunsaturated fatty acids in membrane biology and cell function in this animal model.

Selected Publications

Watts, J.L. and Browse, J.  2006  Dietary Manipulation Implicates Lipid Signaling in C. elegans Germline Stem Cell Fate.  Developmental Biology 292:381-392.

Mandaokar, A., Thines, B., Shin, B., Lange, B.M., Choi, G., Koo, Y.J., Yoo, Y.J., Choi, Y.D., Choi, G. and Browse, J.  2006  Transcriptional Regulators of Stamen Development in Arabidopsis Identified by Transcriptional Profiling.  Plant J. 46:9984-1008.

Barkan, L., Vijayan, P., Carlsson, A.S., Mekhedov, S. and Browse, J.  2006  A Suppressor of fab1 Challenges Hypotheses on the Role of Thylakoid Unsaturation in Photosynthetic Function.  Plant Physiol. 141:1012-1020.

Møller, I.M., Rasmusson, A. and Browse, J. 2006 Respiration and Lipid Metabolism, Chapter 11. In "Plant Physiology, Fourth Ed." Taiz, L. and Ziegler, E. (eds.), Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA, 764 pp.

Brock, T.J., Browse, J. and Watts, J.L.  2006  Genetic Regulation of Unsaturated Fatty Acid Composition in C. elegans.  PLOS Genetics 2:3108 (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.0020108).

Ma, X. and Browse, J.  2006  Altered Rates of Protein Transport in Arabidopsis Mutants Deficient in Chloroplast Membrane Unsaturation.  Phytochemistry 67:1629-1636.

Poxleitner, M., Rogers, S.W., Samuels, A.L., Browse, J. and Rogers, J.C.  2006  A Role for Caleosin in Degradation of Oil Body Storage Lipid During Seed Germination.  Plant J. 47:917-933.

Tilton, G.B., Wedemeyer, W.J., Browse, J. and Ohlrogge, J.  2006  Plant Coenzyme A Biosynthesis: Characterization of Two Pantothenate Kinases from Arbidopsis thaliana.  Plant Mol. Biol. 61:629-642.

Kubagawa, H.M., Watts, J.L., Corrigan, C., Edmonds, J., Sztul, E., Browse, J. and Miller, M.A.  2006  Oocyte Signals Derived from Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Control Sperm Recruitment in vivo.  Nature Cell Biol. 8:1143-1148.

Kumar, R., Wallis, J.G., Skidmore, C. and Browse, J.  2006  A Mutation in Microsomal NADH:Cytochrome b5 Reductase Identified by High-Throughput Screening of Mutant Arabidopsis Seed has Differential Effects on Fatty Acid Hydroxylation and Desaturation.  Plant J. 48:920-932.

Costa, M.A., Bedgar, D.L., Moinuddin, S.G.A., Kim, K.-W., Cardenas, C.L., Cochrane, F.C., Shockey, J.M., Helms, G.L., Amakura, Y., Takahashi, H., Milhollan, J.K., Davin, L.B., Browse, J. and Lewis, N.G. 2005 Characterization in vitro and in vivo of the Putative Multigene 4-Coumarate:CoA Ligase Network in Arabidopsis: Syringyl Lignin and Sinapate/Sinapyl Alcohol Derivative Formation. Phytochemistry 66:2071-2090.

Koo, A.J.K., Fulda, M., Browse, J. and Ohlrogge, J.B. 2005 Identification of a Plastid Acyl-Acyl Carrier Protein Synthetase in Arabidopsis and Its Role in the Activation and Elongation of Exogenous Fatty Acids. Plant J. 44:620-632.

Browse, J. 2005 Jasmonate: An Oxylipin Signal with Many Roles in Plants. In "Vitamins and Hormones", Vol. 72: Plant Hormones, Litwack, G. (ed.), AP-Elsevier, New York.

Lu, C., Fulda, M., Wallis, J.G. and Browse, J. 2005 A High-Throughput Screen for Genes from Castor that Boost Hydroxy Fatty Acid Accumulation in Seed Oils of Transgenic Arabidopsis. Plant J. 45:847-856.

Kahn-Kirby, A.H., Dantzker, J.L.M., Apicella, A.J., Schafer, W.R., Browse, J., Bargmann, C.I. and Watts, J.L. 2004. Specific Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Drive TRPV-Dependent Sensory Signaling In Vivo. Cell 119:889-900.

Schnurr, J., Shockey, J. and Browse, J. 2004. The Acyl-Coenzyme A Synthetase Encoded by LACS2 is Essential for Normal Cuticle Development in Arabidopsis.  Plant Cell 16:629-642.

Tilton, G.B., Shockey, J.M. and Browse, J. 2004. Biochemical and Molecular Characterization of ACH2, an Acyl-CoA Thioesterase from Arabidopsis thaliana.  J. Biol. Chem. 279:7487-7494.

Fulda, M., Schnurr, J., Abbadi, A., Heinz, E. and Browse, J. 2004. Peroxisomal Acyl-CoA Synthetase Activity is Essential for Seedling Development in Arabidopsis thaliana.  Plant Cell 16:394-405.

Wallis, J.G., Watts, J.L. and Browse, J.  2002.  Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Synthesis.  What Will They Think of Next?  Trends in Biochem. Sci. 27:467-473.

Watts, J.L. and Browse, J.  2002.  Genetic Dissection of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Synthesis in Caenorhabditis elegans.  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99:5854-5859.

Carlsson, A.S., LaBrie, S.T., Kinney, A.J., von Wettstein-Knowles, P. and Browse, J.  2002. A KAS2 cDNA Complements the Phenotypes of the Arabidopsis fab1 Mutant that Differs in a Single Residue Bordering the Substrate Binding Pocket.  Plant J. 29:761-770.

Metz, J.G., Roessler, P., Facciotti, D., Levering, C., Dittrich, F., Lassner, M., Valentine, R., Lardizabal, K., Domergue, F., Yamada, A., Yazawa, K., Knauf, V. and Browse, J.  2001.  Polyketide Synthases Produce Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Both Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes.  Science 293:290-293.