Mary A. Schuler

About

Mary A. Schuler is a Professor of Cell & Developmental Biology and Biochemistry at the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology, Illinois College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on molecular biology, biochemistry, and genomics, particularly pre-mRNA processing and P450 monooxygenases. Her work involves understanding the structure, function, and biochemical properties of plant and insect cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, which are membrane-bound proteins involved in critical metabolic pathways such as hydroxylations, epoxidations, and other complex reactions. Schuler's research aims to define the functions and structures of various P450s with roles in plant defense toxin production, phenylpropanoid metabolism, fatty acid modification, and insect detoxification processes. She employs a multidisciplinary approach combining structural modeling, biochemical analysis, genomics, and computational techniques to predict and validate P450 functions, substrate specificities, and gene regulation. Her projects include detailed studies on Arabidopsis thaliana P450s, elucidating their roles in stress responses and developmental processes, as well as investigations into insect P450s involved in detoxifying plant toxins and insecticides, with a focus on understanding the evolution of these enzymes and their contribution to insecticide resistance. Schuler's work integrates structural predictions, heterologous expression systems, and functional genomics to advance knowledge of…

Research topics

• Stereochemistry
• Chemistry
• Organic chemistry
• Biology
• Biochemistry
• Chromatography
• Botany

Selected publications

• Allele-defined genome of the autopolyploid sugarcane Saccharum spontaneum L.

  Nature Genetics · 2018-10-08 · 787 citations

  articleOpen access

  Modern sugarcanes are polyploid interspecific hybrids, combining high sugar content from Saccharum officinarum with hardiness, disease resistance and ratooning of Saccharum spontaneum. Sequencing of a haploid S. spontaneum, AP85-441, facilitated the assembly of 32 pseudo-chromosomes comprising 8 homologous groups of 4 members each, bearing 35,525 genes with alleles defined. The reduction of basic chromosome number from 10 to 8 in S. spontaneum was caused by fissions of 2 ancestral chromosomes fo…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Genome of the long-living sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.)

  Genome biology · 2013-05-10 · 429 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Sacred lotus is a basal eudicot with agricultural, medicinal, cultural and religious importance. It was domesticated in Asia about 7,000 years ago, and cultivated for its rhizomes and seeds as a food crop. It is particularly noted for its 1,300-year seed longevity and exceptional water repellency, known as the lotus effect. The latter property is due to the nanoscopic closely packed protuberances of its self-cleaning leaf surface, which have been adapted for the manufacture of a self…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Contribution of Clinically Derived Mutations in <i>ERG11</i> to Azole Resistance in Candida albicans

  Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy · 2014-11-11 · 293 citations

  articleOpen access

  In Candida albicans, the ERG11 gene encodes lanosterol demethylase, the target of the azole antifungals. Mutations in ERG11 that result in an amino acid substitution alter the abilities of the azoles to bind to and inhibit Erg11, resulting in resistance. Although ERG11 mutations have been observed in clinical isolates, the specific contributions of individual ERG11 mutations to azole resistance in C. albicans have not been widely explored. We sequenced ERG11 in 63 fluconazole (FLC)-resistant cli…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Nelumbo nucifera [data set]

  Figshare · 2013-05-02 · 205 citations

  article

  Genome of the long-living sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn). Discovered as part of the Nelumbo nucifera whole genome shotgun (WGS) project with the project accession AQOG00000000. BioProject PRJNA168000.

• A Gain-of-Function Polymorphism Controlling Complex Traits and Fitness in Nature

  Science · 2012-08-30 · 173 citations

  article

  Identification of the causal genes that control complex trait variation remains challenging, limiting our appreciation of the evolutionary processes that influence polymorphisms in nature. We cloned a quantitative trait locus that controls plant defensive chemistry, damage by insect herbivores, survival, and reproduction in the natural environments where this polymorphism evolved. These ecological effects are driven by duplications in the BCMA (branched-chain methionine allocation) loci controll…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R01GM039025

  NIH · $1.7M · 1998

• NIH Grant R01GM079530

  NIH · $2.1M · 2013

• NIH Grant R01GM071826

  NIH · $1.2M · 2009

Frequent coauthors

• May R. Berenbaum

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  45 shared

• Todd P. Michael

  Salk Institute for Biological Studies

  28 shared

• Matthew E. Hudson

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  28 shared

• Danièle Werck‐Reichhart

  Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

  25 shared

• Steve A. Kay

  University of Southern California

  25 shared

• Yinghong Pan

  25 shared

• Joanne Chory

  Salk Institute for Biological Studies

  25 shared

• David R. Nelson

  University of Tennessee Health Science Center

  22 shared

Similar researchers at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

• Andrew S. Belmonth-59
• Paul R Selvinh-57
• Kannanganattu V. Prasanthh-43