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Richard Gourse

Richard Gourse

· Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Professor, Emeritus

University of Wisconsin-Madison · Bacteriology

Active 1977–2023

h-index73
Citations16.8k
Papers1758 last 5y
Funding$15.8M

Academic metrics are sourced from OpenAlex and public funding records; values may differ from Google Scholar.

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About

Richard Gourse is a Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Professor, Emeritus at the Department of Bacteriology. His research focuses on bacteriology, and he is recognized for his contributions to the field as a professor and researcher. His work has significantly impacted the understanding of bacterial processes and microbiology, contributing to the broader scientific community through his academic and research activities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Research topics

  • Biology
  • Cell biology
  • Genetics
  • Biochemistry
  • Chemistry
  • Biophysics
  • Molecular biology

Selected publications

  • Genome-wide effects on <i>Escherichia coli</i> transcription from ppGpp binding to its two sites on RNA polymerase

    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2019-04-10 · 246 citations

    articleOpen accessSenior author

    , but it has also been reported to bind to many other proteins. To determine the role of the RNAP binding sites in the genome-wide effects of ppGpp on transcription, we used RNA-seq to analyze transcripts produced in response to elevated ppGpp levels in strains with/without the ppGpp binding sites on RNAP. We examined RNAs rapidly after ppGpp production without an accompanying nutrient starvation. This procedure enriched for direct effects of ppGpp on RNAP rather than for indirect effects on tra…

    PublisherOA PDFDOI

  • Transcriptional Responses to ppGpp and DksA

    Annual Review of Microbiology · 2018-09-08 · 222 citations

    review1st authorCorresponding

    The stringent response to nutrient deprivation is a stress response found throughout the bacterial domain of life. Although first described in proteobacteria for matching ribosome synthesis to the cell's translation status and for preventing formation of defective ribosomal particles, the response is actually much broader, regulating many hundreds of genes-some positively, some negatively. Utilization of the signaling molecules ppGpp and pppGpp for this purpose is ubiquitous in bacterial evoluti…

    PublisherDOI

  • Stepwise Promoter Melting by Bacterial RNA Polymerase

    Molecular Cell · 2020 · 133 citations

    PublisherOA PDFDOI

  • E. coli TraR allosterically regulates transcription initiation by altering RNA polymerase conformation

    eLife · 2019-12-16 · 81 citations

    articleOpen access

    TraR and its homolog DksA are bacterial proteins that regulate transcription initiation by binding directly to RNA polymerase (RNAP) rather than to promoter DNA. Effects of TraR mimic the combined effects of DksA and its cofactor ppGpp, but the structural basis for regulation by these factors remains unclear. Here, we use cryo-electron microscopy to determine structures of Escherichia coli RNAP, with or without TraR, and of an RNAP-promoter complex. TraR binding induced RNAP conformational chang…

    PublisherDOI

  • Colocalization of distant chromosomal loci in space in <i>E. coli</i>: a bacterial nucleolus

    Genes & Development · 2016-10-15 · 64 citations

    articleOpen accessSenior author

    The spatial organization of DNA within the bacterial nucleoid remains unclear. To investigate chromosome organization in Escherichia coli, we examined the relative positions of the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) operons in space. The seven rRNA operons are nearly identical and separated from each other by as much as 180° on the circular genetic map, a distance of ≥2 million base pairs. By inserting binding sites for fluorescent proteins adjacent to the rRNA operons and then examining their positions pairw…

    PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

Frequent coauthors

  • Wilma Ross

    104 shared

  • Tamás Gaál

    University of Wisconsin–Madison

    58 shared

  • Michael J. R. Stark

    21 shared

  • Albert E. Dahĺberg

    Providence College

    21 shared

  • Susan A. Gerbi

    John Brown University

    19 shared

  • Richard H. Ebright

    Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

    18 shared

  • Catherine E. Vrentas

    Pharmaceutical Product Development (United States)

    15 shared

  • Michio Nomura

    Kyoto University

    14 shared

Labs

Education

  • Ph.D., Microbiology

    University of Wisconsin-Madison

    1980

  • M.S., Microbiology

    University of Wisconsin-Madison

    1976

  • B.S., Microbiology

    University of Wisconsin-Madison

    1974

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