Colin MacDiarmid

Assistant Professor
PhD, University of Auckland (New Zealand).
Post-doctoral studies: University of Missouri, Columbia.

R424 Research Building
University of Missouri-St. Louis
One University Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63121
Phone (314) 516 7013
Fax (314) 516 6233
email: macdiarmidc@umsl.edu

From top: Dr. MacDiarmid; yeast colonies on an agar plate (each group of four vertical colonies is a “tetrad”, derived from one of four haploid cells produced during meiosis); yeast cells loaded with a fluorescent indicator of zinc concentration (green indicates the vacuole, a site of zinc storage).

Research interests:

Our research is concerned with how eukaryotic organisms deal with changes in the availability of essential metal ions, such as magnesium, calcium and zinc. Mg and Zn are essential for gene regulation and metabolism in cells, and Ca ions play regulatory roles in cell growth and signaling. Cells have mechanisms to regulate the uptake and distribution of these essential cations in response to their availability in the environment, and membrane proteins that mediate cation transport are primarily responsible for this regulation.

Despite the importance of Mg homeostasis, very little is known about the transport of Mg ions in eukaryotes, and how cells regulate the expression and activity of transport proteins in order to maintain the appropriate Mg content within the cytosol and organelles.

We use Bakers' yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) as a model organism to address these questions, in order to take advantage of the extensive information available on yeast gene function, and the powerful genetic and genomic tools available.

Lab members:

Andrew Franklin (MS)

Andrew is studying a novel calcium transporter that may also play a role in Mg homeostasis.

Nilambari Pisat (PhD)

Nilu is characterizing a Mg transporter that may regulate intracellular storage.

Abhinav Pandey (MS)

Abhi is characterizing a putative Mg transporter.

Position available:
A position is available immediately (2007) for an MS student to investigate the regulation of magnesium transport by environmental Mg supply. Candidates should have an excellent GPA and be interested in performing an independent research project leading to the completion of a thesis. Contact Dr. MacDiarmid for details.

Publications:

C. D. Ellis, C. W. MacDiarmid, and D. J. Eide (2005). Heteromeric protein complexes mediate zinc transport into the secretory pathway of eukaryotic cells. Journal of Biological Chemistry 280: 28811-28818.

M. Gonzalez-Guerrero, C. Azcon-Aguilar, M. Mooney, A. Valderas, C. W. MacDiarmid, D. J. Eide, and N. Ferrol (2005). Characterization of a Glomus intraradices gene encoding a putative Zn transporter of the cation diffusion facilitator family. Fungal Genetics and Biology 42: 130-140.

C. D. Ellis, F. Wang, C. W. MacDiarmid, S. Clark, T. Lyons, and D. J. Eide (2004). Zinc and the Msc2 zinc transporter protein are required for endoplasmic reticulum function. Journal of Cell Biology 166: 325-335.

C. W. MacDiarmid, M. A. Milanick, D. J. Eide (2003). Induction of the ZRC1 metal tolerance gene in zinc-limited yeast confers resistance to zinc shock. Journal of Biological Chemistry 278: 15065-15072.

C. W. MacDiarmid, M. A. Milanick, D. J. Eide (2002) Biochemical properties of vacuolar zinc transport systems of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Journal of Biological Chemistry 277: 39187-39194.

C. W. MacDiarmid, L. A. Gaither and D. J. Eide (2000). Zinc transporters that regulate vacuolar zinc storage in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. EMBO J. 19: 2845-2855.