University of Wisconsin-Madison
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The Landick Lab University of Wisconsin-Madison |
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Professor Robert Landick Dept. of Biochemistry 5441 Microbial Sciences 1550 Linden Drive University of Wisconsin Madison, WI 53706-1567 Ph. 608 265 8475 Fax 608 262 9865  Program Links University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Biochemistry Department of Bacteriology Department of Biomolecular Chemistry iPIB - Integrated Program in Biochemistry Microbiology Doctoral Training Program CMB Training Program Microbial Genome Biology Focus Group (CMB) Genetics Training Program Biophysics Training Program Molecular Biosciences Training Program Biotechnology Training Program Biotechnology Center Instructional Links Microbial Gene Regulation 726 Microbial Molecular Biology 612 |
Welcome to the Landick Lab
Our research focuses on RNA
polymerase, the central enzyme of gene
expression in all free-living organisms. Our goal is to understand how RNA polymerase is regulated during the process of transcription (RNA synthesis). In organisms from bacteria to humans, the cell's ability to make long RNA chains, which include most mRNAs and some structural RNAs (e.g., rRNA), requires that extrinsic elongation regulators interact with RNA polymerase to suppress its innate tendency to fall into inactive off-line states that include long pauses, arrest, or termination. We seek to understand the fundamental properties of RNA polymerase that make it susceptible to pausing, arrest, or termination and how elongation regulators alter these properties. We study RNA polymerases from both bacterial and human cells and use a variety of approaches, from genetics to biophysics to structural biology, to study this fundamental paradigm of gene regulation. Lab members are engaged in experiments ranging from detailed biochemical characterization of protein-nucleic acid interactions, to the study of transcription regulators in cells using microarray methods (so-called ChIP chip), to collaborative projects with other labs to study transcription by single molecules of RNA polymerase and to obtain crystallographic sturctures of RNA polymerase and transcription regulators. Our work has practical applications in drug discovery by identification on novel RNA polymerase inhibitors and in controlling transcriptional programs for synthetic microbiology. Follow links here to learn more about our research and our lab. |