Dr. John Browse

509-335-2293
jab@wsu.edu
Regents’ Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Plant Sciences, Fellow of the Institute of Biological Chemistry. Ph.D. 1978, University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Research Interests

Highly unsaturated lipid molecules constitute approximately 50% of the hydrophobic membrane barriers, which delineate the compartments of plant cells, and they are major components of the light harvesting membranes of chloroplasts. Many lines of evidence indicate that these lipids are critically important for many membrane functions and, thus, for the proper growth and development of plants. In addition, lipid oils are a major form of carbon storage in seeds, and these vegetable oils have many commercial applications.

The research programs in my laboratory encompass a diverse set of projects that have at their base our investigation of the biosynthesis and function of membrane and seed-storage lipids in plants using Arabidopsis as a model. These projects include the isolation and characterization of genes that control the elongation, desaturation or other modifications of fatty acids. These genes have been used to produce transgenic plants with altered membrane compositions or improved vegetable oils.

We have several research projects that focus on the roles of membrane lipids in the cell biology and physiology of plants using a large number of mutants with alterations in the lipid composition of their membranes. In addition, our isolation of jasmonate-deficient and jasmonate-responsive mutants of Arabidopsis has allowed us to make new discoveries about the involvement of jasmonate in pollen development, insect defense and non-host resistance against fungal pathogens. These discoveries have wide implications for plant biology in areas ranging from hybrid breeding to crop protection.

Selected Publications

Lunn, D., Smith, G.A., Wallis, J.G. and Browse, J. 2018 Development Defects of Hydroxy-Fatty Acid-Accumulating Seeds Are Reduced by Castor Acyltransferases. Plant Physiol 177:553-564.

Gao, J., Wallis, J.G., Jewell, J.B. and Browse, J.  2017. Trimethylguanosine Synthase 1 (TGS1) is Essential for Chilling Tolerance in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol. 174: 1713-1727.

Adhikari, N.D., Bates, P.D. and Browse, J.  2016. WRINKLED1 Rescues Feedback Inhibition of Fatty Acid Synthesis in Hydroxylase-Expressing Seeds. Plant Physiol. 171: 179-191.

Jewell, J.B. and Browse, J.  2016.  Epidermal Jasmonate Perception is Sufficient for All Aspects of Jasmonate-Mediated Male Fertility in Arabidopsis.  Plant J. 85:634-647.

van Erp, H., Shockey, J., Zhang, M., Adhikari, N.D. and Browse, J.  2015.  Reducing Isozyme Competition Increases Target Fatty Acid Accumulation in Seed Triacylglycerols of Transgenic Arabidopsis.  Plant Physiol. 168:36-46.

Bates, P.D., Johnson, S.R., Cao, X., Li, J., Nam, J.-W., Jaworski, J.G., Ohlrogge, J.B. and Browse, J.  2014  Fatty Acid Synthesis is Inhibited by Inefficient Utilization of Unusual Fatty Acids for Glycerolipid Assembly. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 111:1204-1209.

Wayne LL, Wallis JG, Kumar R, Markham JE and Browse J. 2013 Cytochrome b5 Reductase Encoded by CBR1 Is Essential for a Functional Male Gametophyte in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 25:3052-3066.

Bates PD, Fatihi A, Snapp AR, Carlsson AS, Browse J, Lu C. 2012 Acyl editing and headgroup exchange are the major mechanisms that direct polyunsaturated fatty acid flux into triacylglycerols. Plant Physiol. 160:1530-9.

Fahy D, Scheer B, Wallis JG, Browse J.  2013  Reducing saturated fatty acids in Arabidopsis seeds by expression of a Caenorhabditis elegans 16:0-specific desaturase.  Plant Biotechnol J. 11:480-9.

Foster, J., Kim, H.U., Nakata, P.A. and Browse, J.  2012  A Previously Unknown Oxalyl-CoA Synthetase Is Important for Oxalate Catabolism in Arabidopsis.  The Plant Cell   4:1217-1229.

Bates, P. and Browse, J.  2011  The Pathway of Triacylglycerol Synthesis through Phosphatidylcholine in Arabidopsis Produces a Bottleneck for the Accumulation of Unusual Fatty Acids in Transgenic Seeds.   The Plant Journal.

Sheard, L.B., Tan, X., Mao, H., Withers, J., Nissan, G.B., Hinds, T., Hsu, F.-F., Sharon, M., Browse, J., He, S.Y., Rizo-Rey, J., Howe, G. and Zheng, N. 2010 Mechanism of Jasmonate Recognition by an Inositol Phosphate-potentiated COI1-JAZ Co-receptor. Nature 468: 400-405.

Wallis, J.G. and Browse, J. 2010 Lipid Biochemists Salute the Genome. Plant J. 61:1092-1106.

Browse, J. 2009 Jasmonate Passes Muster: A Receptor and Targets for the Defense Hormone. Annu. Rev. Plant Biol. 60:183-205.

Lu, C., Xin, Z., Ren, Z., Miquel, M., Browse, J. 2009 An Enzyme Regulating Triacylglycerol Composition is Encoded by the ROD1 Gene of Arabidopsis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106:18837-18842.

Thines, B., Katsir, L., Melotto, M., Niu, Y., Mandaokar, A., Liu, G., Nomura, K., He, S.Y., Howe, G.A. and Browse, J. 2007 JAZ Repressor Proteins are Targets of SCFCOI1 During Jasmonate Signaling. Nature 448:661-665.

Mandaokar, A., Thines, B., Shin, B., Lange, B.M., Choi, G., Koo, Y.J., Yoo, Y.J., Choi, Y.D., Choi, G. and Browse, J. 2006 Transcriptional Regulators of Stamen Development in Arabidopsis Identified by Transcriptional Profiling. Plant J. 46:9984-1008.

Schnurr, J., Shockey, J. and Browse, J. 2004 The Acyl-Coenzyme A Synthetase Encoded by LACS2 is Essential for Normal Cuticle Development in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 16:629-642.

Metz, J. G., Roessler, P., Facciotti, D., Levering, C., Dittrich, F., Lassner, M., Valentine, R., Lardizabal, K., Domergue, F., Yamada, A., Yazawa, K., Knauf, V., and Browse, J. 2001 Production of polyunsaturated fatty acids by polyketide synthases in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes.  Science 293:290-3