Professor
Year Started at JMU: 1992
monroejd@jmu.edu
Contact Info
Website: https://sites.lib.jmu.edu/monroelab/
Research Description
We are interested in learning about the roles that a family of starch hydrolases called beta-amylases (BAMs) play in the metabolism of starch in plants. Our work uses the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and is currently focused on BAM2 because it has unusual structural and catalytic properties. We study the properties of the purified enzyme after expressing it in E. coli, and we also investigate starch metabolism in plants that are missing the BAM2 protein.
Courses
- Protein Structure and Function (BIO 426)
- Plant Physiology (455/555)
Education
- PhD in Plant Biology, 1988, Cornell University
- BS in Botany, 1982, University of Michigan
Select Publications
- Ozcan, K.E. and Monroe J.D. (2023) Maize β-amylase7 encodes 2 proteins using alternative transcriptional start sites: Nuclear BAM7 and plastidic BAM2. Plant Physiology. https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiad227
- Ravenburg C.M.*, Riney M.B.*, Monroe JD, and Berndsen CE. (2022) The β-amylase7 gene in Zea mays encodes a protein with structural and catalytic properties similar to Arabidopsis BAM2. Acta Crys. D Struct. Biol. 78: 560-570. https://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/paper?S2059798322002169
- Chandrasekharan N.P.*, C.M. Ravenburg*, I.R. Roy*, J.D. Monroe. and C.E. Berndsen (2020) Solution structure and assembly of β-amylase2 from Arabidopsis thaliana. Acta Crys. D Struct Biol. 76: 357-365. https://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/paper?S2059798320002016
*indicates student co-author
Biology Department
