Gerard Barcak, Ph.D.
Associate Professor

108 N. Greene Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
phone: 410-706-6304
fax: 410-706-8297

e-mail: gbarcak@umaryland.edu

EDUCATION

1975    B.S. cum laude, Manhattan College, N.Y.
1982    M.S., University of Maryland, Baltimore Co.
1986    Ph.D., University of Maryland, Baltimore Co.
1989    Postdoctoral, Johns Hopkins University

GRADUATE AND POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland Baltimore County, MD. (1978-1981). Laboratory of Robert P. Burchard.

Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD. (1982-1985). Laboratory of Richard E. Wolf, Jr.

Monsanto Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. (1986-1989). Laboratory of Nobel laureate Hamilton O. Smith.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

1989 -1997         Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of
                         Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.

1997 – Present    Associate Professor (tenured), Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University
                         of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. (1997 present).

RESEARCH DESCRIPTION

Through a process called natural genetic transformation, many genera of bacteria bind, transport, and incorporate DNA molecules found in their environment into homologous portions of their genomes. This may result in the acquisition of new or modified virulence genes or genes conferring resistance to antibiotics and/or heavy metals. Though the phenomenon of genetic transformation was characterized more than 70 years ago, a detailed molecular understanding of the process is lacking. Through biochemical, genetic, and recombinant DNA techniques, it is the long range goal of my laboratory to understand at the molecular level those events leading to the development of Haemophilus influenzae cells genetically competent for DNA transformation.

The transformation process is complex, involving inducible gene expression, sequence-specific protein-DNA binding, macromolecular transport, and high frequency genetic recombination. Experiments employing DNA microarrays, mRNA transcript mapping, gene fusion technology, and other hybridization analyses have allowed us to discover many new DNA transformation loci in H. influenzae. Current experiments are aimed at elucidating the cellular location and specific role of each protein in the transformation process.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Pierson, V.L. and G.J. Barcak. 1999.  Development of E. coli host strains tolerating unstable DNA sequences on ColE1 vectors.  Focus 21:18-19.

Karudapuram, S. and G.J. Barcak. 1997. The Haemophilus influenzae dprABC genes constitute a competence-inducible operon that requires the product of the tfoX (sxy ) gene for transcriptional activation. J. Bacteriol. 179: 4815-4820.

Karudapuram, S., X. Zhao, and G.J. Barcak. 1995. DNA sequence and characterization of Haemophilus influenzae dprA ⁺ , a gene required for chromosomal but not plasmid DNA transformation.  J. Bacteriol. 177: 3235-3240.

Zulty, J.J. and G.J. Barcak. 1995. Identification of a DNA transformation gene required for com101A ⁺ expression and supertransformer phenotype in Haemophilus influenzae.  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 92: 3616-3620.

Bishai, W.R., H.O. Smith, and G.J. Barcak. 1994. A peroxide/ascorbate-inducible catalase from Haemophilus influenzae is homologous to the Escherichia coli katE gene product. J. Bacteriol. 176: 2914-292