Alice Tarun
General Biology Assistant Professor
Johnson Hall of Science 125
atarun@stlawu.edu | (315) 229-5199 x8
Ph.D Comparative Biochemistry
University of California
Berkeley, CA
B.S. Biology (Major: Genetics) Magna Cum Laude
University of the Philippines
Los Banos, Philippines
Research Interests:
- My research focuses on the application of bioinformatics, genomics, and molecular biology to study microbial diversity, synthetic biology, and to screen for bacteria with antibiotic properties against known antibiotic-resistant pathogens. My research has been done with undergraduate students through course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURE) and independent undergraduate research.
- Current Research Interests 1. Synthetic Biology- Construction of bacterial biosensors using BioBricks (www. parts.igem.org). BioBricks are DNA fragments that have defined functions that will be used to design and build simple gene circuits to carry out a particular function such as a biosensor. 2. Identification and cultivation of endogenous plant growth promoting rhizosphere bacteria (PGPR) to enhance plant growth. This project will examine the role of endogenous PGPR in agroecosystems by determining the microbe-induced changes in microbial community structure in soil and plant roots (microbiome) and relate these changes to crop yield and susceptibility to pathogens. 3. DNA Barcoding- PCR amplification and use of DNA barcoding for species identification in various research applications such as curation of herbarial collections in the Philippines, identification and species discovery of mushrooms in the Northern New York, and ecological studies. 4. Screening for bacteria with antimicrobial properties- Isolate and characterize bacteria, from soil samples and plant roots, with antibacterial properties against bacterial pathogens known for antibacterial resistance and nosocomial infections (ESKAPE pathogens).
Presentations, Exhibitions, Performances and Published Work:
- 1. Lauinger IL, Vivas L, Perozzo R, Stairiker C, Tarun A, Zloh M, Zhang X, Xu H, Tonge PJ, Franzblau SG, Pham DH, Esguerra CV, Crawford AD, Maes L, Tasdemir D. 2013. Potential of lichen secondary metabolites against Plasmodium liver stage parasites with F
- 2. Tasdemir D, Sanabria D, Lauinger IL, Tarun A, Herman R, Perozzo R, Zloh M, Kappe SH, Brun R, Carballeira NM. 2010. 2-Hexadecynoic acid inhibits plasmodial FAS-II enzymes and arrests erythrocytic and liver stage Plasmodium infections. Bioorg Med Chem. 2
- 3. Pei Y, Tarun AS, Vaughan AM, Herman RW, Soliman JM, Erickson-Wayman A, Kappe SH. 2010. Plasmodium pyruvate dehydrogenase activity is only essential for the parasite's progression from liver infection to blood infection. Mol Microbiol. 2010 Feb;75(4):95
- 4. Albuquerque SS, Carret C, Grosso AR, Tarun AS, Peng X, Kappe, SHI, Prudencio M and Mota MM. 2009. Host cell transcriptional profiling during malaria liver stage infection reveals a coordinated and sequential set of biological event. BMC Genomics 2009 J
- 5. Tarun AS, Vaughan AM, Kappe SH. 2009. Redefining the role of de novo fatty acid synthesis in Plasmodium parasites.Trends Parasitol. Dec;25(12):545-50. Epub 2009 Oct 12. PMID: 19819758.
- 6. Kumar KA, Baxter P, Tarun AS, Kappe SH, Nussenzweig V. 2009. Conserved protective mechanisms in radiation and genetically attenuated uis3(-) and uis4(-) plasmodium sporozoites. PLoS ONE. 2009;4(2):e4480. Epub 2009 Feb 13. PMID: 19214236
- 7. Vaughan AM, O'Neill MT, Tarun AS, Camargo N, Phuong TM, Aly AS, Cowman AF, Kappe SH. 2008. Type II fatty acid synthesis is essential only for malaria parasite late liver stage development. Cellular Microbiology.11(3):506-20. Epub 2008 Dec 3. PMID:19068
- 8. Mikolajczak SA, Silva-Rivera H, Peng X, Tarun AS, Camargo N, Jacobs-Lorena V, Daly TM, Bergman LW, de la Vega P, Williams J, Aly AS, Kappe SH. 2008. Distinct malaria parasite sporozoites reveal transcriptional changes that cause differential tissue inf
- 9. Vaughan, A; S-Y Chiu; Gowthaman Ramasamy; Ling Li; Malcolm J. Gardner; A. S. Tarun; Stefan H.I. Kappe; Xinxia Peng. Assessment and improvement of the Plasmodium yoelii yoelii genome annotation through comparative analysis. 2008. Bioinformatics . 24: i
- 10. Tarun, A. S., X. Peng, R. F. Dumpit, Y. Ogata, H. Silva-Rivera, N. Camargo, T.M. Daly, L.W. Bergman, and S.H. I. Kappe. 2008. A Combined Transcriptome and Proteome Survey of Malaria Parasite Liver Stages.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Scien
- 11. Tarun, A. S., R. F. Dumpit, N. Camargo, M. Labaied, P. Liu, A. Takagi, R. Wang and S.H. I. Kappe. 2007. Protracted sterile protection with Plasmodium yoelii pre-erythrocytic genetically attenuated parasite malaria vaccines is independent of significan
- 12. Hua, S. S., Tarun, A. S., Pandey, S. N., Chang, L., Chang, P. K. 2007. Characterization of AFLAV, a Tf1/Sushi retrotransposon from Aspergillus flavus. Mycopathologia.163(2):97-104. PMID: 17286166
- 13. Tarun, A. S., K. Baer, R. F. Dumpit, S. Gray, N. Lejarcegui, U. Frevert and S. H. I. Kappe. 2006. Quantitative isolation and in vivo imaging of malaria parasite liver stages. International Journal of Parasitology. 36(12):1283-93. PMID: 16890231
- 14. Shusterman, D., A. Tarun, M.A. Murphy and J. Morris. 2005. Seasonal allergic rhinitic and normal subjects respond differentially to nasal provocation with acetic acid vapor. Inhalation Toxicolology. 17(3):147-52. PMID: 15788375
- 15. D. L. LeDuc*, Tarun A. S.*, M. Montes-Bayon, J. Meija, M. F. Malit, C.P. Wu, M. AbdelSamie, C.Y. Chiang, A. Tagmount, M. deSouza, B. Neuhierl, A. Bock, J. Caruso, and N. Terry. 2003. Overexpression of SeCys Methyltransferase in Arabidopsis thaliana an
- 16. Tarun, A. S., B. Bryant, W. Zhai, C. Solomon, and D. Shusterman. 2003. Gene expression for carbonic anhydrase isoenzymes in human nasal mucosa. Chemical Senses. 28(7):621-9. PMID: 14578124.
- 17. Okubara, P. A., B. K. Tibbot, A. S. Tarun, C. E. McAlpin, and S. T. Hua. 2003. Partial retrotransposon-like DNA sequence in the genomic clone of Aspergillus flavus, pAF28. Mycological Research. 107: 841-6. PMID: 12967211.
- 18. Terry, N., A.M. Zayed, M.P. deSouza, and A.S. Tarun. 2000. Selenium in Higher Plants. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology., 51: 401-32. PMID: 15012198
- 19. Zhu, Y.L., E.A.H. Pilon-Smits, A. Tarun, S. U. Webber, L. Jouanin and N. Terry. 1999. Cadmium tolerance and accumulation in Indian mustard is enhanced by overexpressing glutamylcysteine synthetase. Plant Physiology, 1221: 1169-1177. PMID: 10594104.
- 20. Tarun, A.S., J. S. Lee and A. Theologis. 1998. Random mutagenesis of tomato 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase: a key enzyme in ethylene biosynthesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. 95: 9796-9801. PMID: 9707555.
- 22. Tarun, A. S. and A. Theologis. 1998. Complementation analysis of mutants of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase reveals the enzyme is a dimer with shared active sites. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 273: 12509-12514. PMID: 9575209.
Regularly Taught Courses:
- BIOL 101 General Biology 1 Lecture
- BIOL 102 General Biology 2 Lecture
Sample Student Projects Supervised:
- I have directly mentored and supervised four undergraduates in their Honor’s theses and six undergraduate researchers in summer fellowships.
- Cameron Prophet. 2015. Comparison of Antimicrobial Properties of Kombucha Fermented from Green Tea, Black Tea and Yerba Mate. Presented at the SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference, Brockport NY.
- Adjuwa Tomlin and Fabiola Carcamo, selected for oral presentation at the 2018 SUNY Undergraduade Research Conference, Monroe Community College
Ways to connect with students outside of the classroom:
Students interested in conducting research in my lab should contact me by e-mail.