Douglas A. Gage
Adjunct Professor

• B.S. 1977, Florida State University
  M.S. 1981, Florida State University
• Ph.D., 1986, University of Texas at Austin
• Postdoctoral Associate, 1986-1987, MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory
• Postdoctoral Associate and Research Faculty, 1987-1994, NIH Mass Spectrometry Facility, MSU

gage@msu.edu

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Douglas A. Gage

Research Interests

The primary area of interest in our laboratory is the biosynthesis and function of plant osmoregulatory compounds, in particular betaines and their sulfonium analogs. To help plants adjust to salt or drought stress, these zwitterionic "compatible osmolytes" can accumulate in the cytoplasm to concentrations of more than 1M without disrupting cellular function. The mechanism by which enzymes and cellular proteins are protected from denaturation in these high concentrations is not well understood.

Our work is currently focused on the osmolyte dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP). In addition to its role in physiological adaptation, DMSP is one of the primary contributors to biogenic sulfur in the atmosphere through its breakdown to dimethylsulfide, a gas whose atmospheric oxidation products are important in cloud formation and potentially in climate regulation. Our biosynthetic studies have determined that this compound is derived from methionine via two distinct pathways in higher plants and marine algae. We are using stable isotope and radioisotope labeling methods to identify intermediates in these pathways. Isolation and characterization of the enzymes involved in DMSP biosynthesis is one near-term objective of this work. A longer term goal is to understand how this pathway is regulated under different environmental conditions, both in the context of plant adaptation to stress and global sulfur cycles.

A second focus of the research in our laboratory is on the development of new analytical methods employing mass spectrometry to characterize protein structure. MORE

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