MICHAEL TIMKO

Professor of Biology
Email: mpt9g@virginia.edu
Office: (434) 982-5817
Lab: (434) 924-3943
Office: 044 Gilmer Hall

Laboratory Website

EDUCATION

B.S., Rutgers, 1975
M.S.., Rutgers University, 1978
Ph.D., Rutgers University, 1980
Postdoctoral Research, Brandeis University, 1980-1982
Postdoctoral Research, Rockefeller University, 1982-1986

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Our research is conducted at the cellular and organismal level using a wide range of biochemical, molecular, and genomic approaches in the laboratory and in silico (computational/ bioinformatic). Our interest can be divided into three main themes. The first focuses on understanding the molecular components and signaling pathways that govern the interaction of the parasitic angiosperms Striga and Alectra with their host species. Through comparative functional genomics we are defining the host defense components and parasite virulence effectors underlying compatible and incompatible host-parasite association. These studies also include an examination of the evolution of parasitism in the Orobanchaceae as a way of determining what makes parasitism in angiosperms an attractive life-history option. A second area of research focuses on the phytohormonal and developmental regulation of nicotine and related alkaloids in tobacco. By targeted manipulation we are attempting to define a cause and effect relationship between the presence of specific plant alkaloid constituents and their derivatives in tobacco smoke, tobacco smoke condensates, or smokeless tobacco extracts and their effects on human cellular function leading to disease using differentiated bronchial and oral (gingivial) cell cultures as models. The final area of work in the lab centers on the development and use of probiotic-based human therapeutics and nutraceuticals for the treatment of intestinal disease, including necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a major problem in premature infants.

For more information about research interests, visit my lab webpage

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS

Li J, and Timko MP (2009) Gene-for-gene resistance in Striga-cowpea associations. Science 325: 1094.

Westwood JH, Yoder JI, Timko MP, and de Pamphilis CW (2010) The evolution of parasitism in plants. Trends in Plant Science 15: 227-235 doi 10.1016/j.tplants.2010.01.004

Hernandez-Garcia CM, Bouchard RA, Rushton PJ Jones ML, Chen X, Timko MP, and Finer JJ (2010) High level transgenic expression of soybean (Glycine max) GmERF and Gmubi gene promoters isolated by a novel promoter analysis pipeline. BMC Plant Biology 10: 237 doi:10.1186/1471-2229-10-237

Andargie M, Pasquet RS, Gowda BS, Muluvi GM, and Timko MP (2011) Construction of a SSR-based genetic map and identification of QTLs for yield and domestication traits using recombinant inbred lines from a cross between wild X cultivated cowpea (V. unguiculata (L.) Walp.). Molecular Breeding 28: 413-420. DOI 10.1007/s11032-011-9598-2

Zhang H, Bokowiec MT, Rushton PJ, Han S, and Timko MP (2011) Tobacco transcription factors NtMYC2a and NtMYC2b form nuclear complexes with the NtJAZ1 repressor and regulate multiple jasmonate-inducible steps in nicotine biosynthesis. Molecular Plant doi: 10.1093/mp/ssr056

Timko MP, Huang K, and Lis KE (2011) Host resistance and parasite virulence in Striga-host plantinteractions - A shifting balance of power. Weed Science doi: 10.1614/WS-D-11-00039.1 (Posted online June 2011)

Wickett NJ, Honaas LA, Wafula EK, Das M, Huang K, Wu B, Timko MP, Yoder JI, Westwood JH and dePamphilis CW (2011) Transcriptomes of the parasitic plant family Orobanchaceae reveal surprising conservation of chlorophyll synthesis. Current Biology 21: 20980-2104. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2011.11.011

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