James R. Manhart- Short CV

James R. Manhart - Short CV

  • James R. Manhart
  • Associate Professor
  • Department of Biology
  • Texas A&M University
  • College Station, TX 77843-3258
  • (409) 845-3356
  • FAX: (409) 862-1977
  • email: Manhart@bio.tamu.edu
    •

    Academic Experience

    B.S., Biology, 1977, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS

    M.S., Biology, 1979, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, THESIS: "Effect of Nitrate on Nitrogen Fixation." Research Advisor: Dr. Peter Wong

    Ph.D., Botany, 1984, University of Georgia, Athens, GA. Dissertation: "A Biosystematic Study of the Genus Carex section Laxiflorae." Research Advisor: Dr. David Giannasi.

    Postdoctoral Research Associate, 1985-1986, Department of Botany, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, with Dr. Glenn Galau.

    NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, 1986-1988, Department of Biology, Univesity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, with Dr. Jeffrey Palmer.

    1988- present, Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.

    Research Interests

    The main focus of research in my lab is the use of molecular characters to increase our understanding of phylogenetic relationships of green algae and land plants. We are currently using both structural characteristics and gene sequences from chloroplast genomes as characters in phylogenetic analyses. The placement of members of the group of green algae known as the charophytes closest to the land plant lineage has been corroborated by comparisons of chloroplast genome structures and DNA sequences.
    We are worked with Dr. Greta Fryxell, Department of Botany, Univesity of Texas, Austin, on the marine diatom Pseudonitzschia pungens. This diatom has toxic and nontoxic forms which are very similar morphologically. The toxic form has been implicated in shellfish poisonings that resulted in deaths and severe loss of short-term memory functions in humans. We have been able to find molecular markers that distinguish between the two forms. This research, along with parallel morphological studies, have provided support for recognizing these forms as separate species. Sequence comparisons of the ITS region of the nuclear rDNAs of accessions of the toxic and nontoxic forms from the east and west coasts of the U.S., the Gulf of Mexico, and Asia are in progress.
    The most recent collaboration is with Dr. Mary Rumpho, Department of Horticulture, Texas A&M University, College Station. This research involves a study of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in a symbiotic relationship of chloroplasts from the alga Vaucheria litorea with marine sea slugs (Elysia chlorotica . These plastids are sequestered in the slugs after ingestion of the alga and remain functional for long periods of time. This research may help in understanding the development of symbiotic relationships and n the engineering of systems that do not require a "complete" organism to support photosynthesis and energy production. The aspect of the research being done in my lab is the determination of the content of the Vaucheria chloroplast genome.

    Publications for Last Five Years

    Manhart, J.R. and J.D. Palmer. 1990. The gain of two chloroplast tRNA introns marks the green algal ancestors of land plants. Nature 345:268-270.

    S. Baldauf, J.R. Manhart, and J.D. Palmer. 1990. Different fates of the Chloroplast tufA gene following its transfer to the nucleus in green algae. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 14:5317-5321.

    Manhart, J.R. 1990. Chemotaxonomy of the genus Carex. Can. J. Bot. 68:1457-1461.

    Manhart, J.R., R.W. Hoshaw, and J.D. Palmer. 1990. Physical and gene mapping of Spirogyra cpDNA reveals a unique chloroplast genome. Jour. Phycol. 26:490-494.

    Manhart, J.R. and VonderHaar, R.A. 1991. Intron revealed by nucleotide sequence of large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase from Codium fragile (Chlorophyta): Phylogenetic analysis. J. Phycol. 27:613-617.

    Rettig, J.H., Wilson, H.D. and Manhart, J.R. 1992. Phylogeny of the Caryophyllales - gene sequence data. Taxon 41:201-209.

    Manhart, J.R. and McCourt, R.M. 1992. Molecular data and species concepts in the algae. J. Phycol. 28: 730-737.

    Chase MW, Soltis DE, Olmstead RG, Morgan D, Les DH, Duvall MR, Price R, Hills HG, Qiu Y, Kron KA, Rettig JH, Conti E, Palmer JD, Clegg MT, Manhart JR, Sytsma KJ, Michaels HJ, Kress WJ, Donoghue MJ, Clark WD, Hedren M, Gaut BS, Jansen RK, Kim K-J, Wimpee CF, Smith JF, Furnier GR, Straus SH, Xiang Q, Plunkett GM, Soltis PS, Eguiarte LE, Learn GH, Barrett SCH, Graham S, Albert, VA. 1993. Phylogenetics of seed plants: An analysis of nucleotide sequences from the plastid gene rbcL. Ann Mo Bot Gard. 80:528-580.

    Wilson, H.D. and Manhart, J.R. 1993. Crop/weed gene flow: Chenopodium quinoa Willd. and C. berlandieri Moq. Theor. Appl. Genet. 86:642-648.

    Lew, K.A. and Manhart, J.R. 1993. The evolutionary mystern of the str operon. Jour. Phycol. 29: 500-505.

    Calie, P.C. and Manhart, J.R. 1994. Extensive sequence divergence in the 3' inverted repeat of the chloroplast rbcL gene in non-flowring land plants and algae. Gene 146: 251-256.

    Albert, V.A., Bremer, K. Chase, M.W., Manhart, J., Mishler, B.D. and Nixon, K.C. 1994. rbcL gene sequences and phylogenetic studies of vascular plants. Ann Mo Bot Gard. 81: 534-567.

    Manhart, J.R. 1994. Phylogenetic analysis of green plant rbcL sequences. Molec. Phylo. and Evol. 3: 114-127.

    Rumpho, M. E., Mujer, C. V., Andrews, D. L., Manhart, J. R., and S. K. Pierce. 1994. Extraction of DNA from mucilaginous tissues of a sea slug (Elysia chlorotica). Biotechniques 17: 1098-1101.

    Manhart, J.R., Gryxell, G.A., Villac, M.C. and L.Y. Segura. 1995. Pseudo-nitzschia pungens and P. multiseries (Baillariophyceae): nuclear ribosomal DNAs and species differences. J. Phycol. 31: 421-427.

    Manhart, J.R. 1995. Chloroplast 16S rDNA sequences and Phylogenetic relatiosnhips of fern allies and ferns. Am. Fern Journal. In Press.

    Last modified: 21 August1995
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