Muktak Aklujkar

Education

1998 B.Sc. Hon. Microbiology, University of British Columbia

2004 Ph.D. Microbiology, University of British Columbia

Research description

Manual curation of genomes: Geobacter sulfurreducens; Geobacter metallireducens; Geobacter uraniireducens; Geobacter bemidjiensis; Pelobacter carbinolicus.

Comparative genomics: evaluation of possible effect of CRISPR on histidine-rich proteins in Pelobacter carbinolicus.

Mutational analysis: conserved proteins of unknown function unique to Geobacteraceae; diguanylate cyclases and novel nucleotide cyclases; ATP phosphoribosyltransferase; programmed cell death.

Expansion of genetic systems for Geobacteraceae.

Publications

1998 Russell, C., G. Hendson, G. Jevon, T. Matlock, J. Yu, M. Aklujkar, K.-Y. Ng, and L. A. Clarke. Murine MPS I: insights into the pathogenesis of Hurler syndrome. Clinical Genetics 53: 349-361.

2000 Aklujkar, M., A. L. Harmer, R. C. Prince, and J. T. Beatty. The orf162b sequence of Rhodobacter capsulatus encodes a protein required for optimal levels of photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes. Journal of Bacteriology 182:5440-5447. PDF

2005 Aklujkar, M., R. C. Prince, and J. T. Beatty. The PuhB protein of Rhodobacter capsulatus functions in photosynthetic reaction centre assembly with a secondary effect on light-harvesting complex 1. Journal of Bacteriology 187:1334-1343. PDF

2005 Aklujkar, M., R. C. Prince, and J. T. Beatty. The puhE gene of Rhodobacter capsulatus is needed for optimal transition from aerobic to photosynthetic growth and encodes a putative negative modulator of bacteriochlorophyll production. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 437:186-198. PDF

2005 Aklujkar, M., and J. T. Beatty. The PufX protein of Rhodobacter capsulatus affects the properties of bacteriochlorophyll a and carotenoid pigments of light-harvesting complex 1. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 443:21-32. PDF

2006 Aklujkar, M., and J. T. Beatty. Investigation of Rhodobacter capsulatus PufX interactions in the core complex of the photosynthetic apparatus. Photosynthesis Research 88:159-171. PDF

2006 Aklujkar, M., R. C. Prince, and J. T. Beatty. The photosynthetic deficiency due to puhC gene deletion in Rhodobacter capsulatus suggests a PuhC protein-dependent process of RC/LH1/PufX complex reorganization. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 454:59-71. PDF

2008 Ding, Y.-H. R., K. K. Hixson, M. A. Aklujkar, M. S. Lipton, R. D. Smith, D. R. Lovley, and T. Mester. Proteome of Geobacter sulfurreducens grown with Fe(III) oxide or Fe(III) citrate as the electron acceptor. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1784:1935-1941. PDF

2009 Aklujkar, M., J. Krushkal, G. DiBartolo, A. Lapidus, M. L. Land, and D. R. Lovley. The genome sequence of Geobacter metallireducens: features of metabolism, physiology and regulation common and dissimilar to Geobacter sulfurreducens. BMC Microbiology 9(1):109. PDF This article has been recognized as “Highly Accessed.”

2010 Aklujkar, M., and D. R. Lovley. Interference with histidyl-tRNA synthetase by a CRISPR spacer sequence as a factor in the evolution of Pelobacter carbinolicus. BMC Evolutionary Biology 10(1):230. PDF

2010 Aklujkar, M., N. D. Young, D. Holmes, M. Chavan, C. Risso, H. E. Kiss, C. S. Han, M. L. Land and D. R. Lovley. The genome of Geobacter bemidjiensis, exemplar for the subsurface clade of Geobacter species that predominate in Fe(III)-reducing subsurface environments. BMC Genomics 11:490. PDF

2011 Aklujkar, M. Two ATP phosphoribosyltransferase isozymes of Geobacter sulfurreducens contribute to growth in the presence or absence of histidine and under nitrogen fixation conditions. Canadian Journal of Microbiology 57(7):547-558.

2011 Lovley, D. R., T. Ueki, T. Zhang, N. S. Malvankar, P. M. Shrestha, K. A. Flanagan, M. Aklujkar, J. E. Butler, L. Giloteaux, A. E. Rotaru, D. E. Holmes, A. E. Franks, R. Orellana, C. Risso and K. P. Nevin. Geobacter: The microbe electric's physiology, ecology, and practical applications. Advances in Microbial Physiology 59:1-100.

2011 Tremblay, P.-L., M. Aklujkar, C. Leang, K. P. Nevin and D. R. Lovley. A genetic system for Geobacter metallireducens: role of the flagellin and pilin in the reduction of Fe(III) oxide. Environmental Microbiology Reports (in press). PDF