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Guru Rao

Guru Rao

Position
  • Professor Emeritus
Our research interests in protein science are broad, with an emphasis on the biochemical characterization of proteins to establish structure-activity relationships, protein engineering for altering protein function, protein folding, protein stability and protein-protein interactions. As the genome sequencing projects ‘unravel’ the primary structure of proteins, the crux of the issue becomes not the sequence per se but the characterization of proteins (i.e. post-translational modifications) and establishing function not only in isolation but through a network of interactions. Elucidation of the signal transduction pathways is expected to provide key insights into strategies to produce grain for food, feed and renewable fuels.

Contact Info

2810 Beardshear
515 Morrill Rd.
Ames
,
IA
50011-2103

Education

  • Ph.D., Biochemistry, University of Mysore, India, 1981
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Case Western University, 1980-1983
  • Research Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina (Columbia, SC) 1983-87

More Information

Invited Talks

  • Plant Biology Signal Transduction Series, University of Dusseldorf, Germany, January 27-28, 2014.
  • The History of Protein Science. University of Delhi (India) to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Ramachandran Map. March 2013.
  • Intramolecular and intermolecular interactions in the Arabidopsis Crinkly4 (ACR4) kinase domain. School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, U.K. May 2012.

Area of Expertise: 

  • Structure-function relationships of plant proteins
  • Protein-protein interactions in plant signal transduction
  • Protein engineering