Trisha Nell Davis (born May 27, 1954) is an American biochemist, the current Earl Davie/ZymoGenetics Chair of the department of biochemistry at the University of Washington.[1] Her early research focused on Calmodulin, though the primary focus of her lab has since shifted to the molecular machinery of cell division in budding yeast, especially the microtubule organizing centers and the kinetochores.

Background and education edit

Trisha Davis received her BA in Computer Science and Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1976. She received her Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University in 1983. She joined the University of Washington Department of Biochemistry in 1997 and became acting chair of the department in 2011. In 2013, she became the first female chair of the Department.

Work and discoveries edit

Davis's post-doctoral research focused on Calmodulin in budding yeast [2][3] After starting her own lab at the University of Washington, she discovered that Calmodulin performs an essential function in the yeast spindle pole body,[4] beginning the lab's gradual transition into the study of mitosis.

The Davis Lab has published extensively on the spindle pole body [5][6][7][8] and on the kinetochore.[9][10][11][12] Much of the recent research, conducted in collaboration with the Asbury Lab at the University of Washington, uses biophysical techniques such as optical tweezers to quantify the microtubule-coupling activity of the kinetochore.

Dr. Davis is also the director of the Yeast Resource Center (YRC), a Biomedical Technology Research Center supported by the National Institutes of Health and National Institute of General Medical Studies.

Awards and recognition edit

In 2020, Davis was named to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[13]

References edit

  1. ^ Advancement, UW Medicine. "Trisha N. Davis, Ph.D. - UW Medicine". Chairs & Professorships. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  2. ^ Davis, Trisha N.; Urdea, Mickey S.; Masiarz, Frank R.; Thorner, Jeremy (1986). "Isolation of the yeast calmodulin gene: Calmodulin is an essential protein". Cell. 47 (3): 423–431. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(86)90599-4. ISSN 0092-8674. PMID 3533275. S2CID 40739181.
  3. ^ Davis, T. N.; Thorner, J. (1989). "Vertebrate and yeast calmodulin, despite significant sequence divergence, are functionally interchangeable". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 86 (20): 7909–7913. Bibcode:1989PNAS...86.7909D. doi:10.1073/pnas.86.20.7909. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 298181. PMID 2554295.
  4. ^ Moser, M.J.; Flory, M.R.; Davis, T.N. (1997-08-01). "Calmodulin localizes to the spindle pole body of Schizosaccharomyces pombe and performs an essential function in chromosome segregation". Journal of Cell Science. 110 (15): 1805–1812. doi:10.1242/jcs.110.15.1805. ISSN 0021-9533. PMID 9264467. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  5. ^ Fong, Kimberly K.; Zelter, Alex; Graczyk, Beth; Hoyt, Jill M.; Riffle, Michael; Johnson, Richard; MacCoss, Michael J.; Davis, Trisha N. (2018-06-14). "Novel phosphorylation states of the yeast spindle pole body". Biology Open. 7 (10). The Company of Biologists: bio033647. doi:10.1242/bio.033647. ISSN 2046-6390. PMC 6215409. PMID 29903865.
  6. ^ Viswanath, Shruthi; Bonomi, Massimiliano; Kim, Seung Joong; Klenchin, Vadim A.; Taylor, Keenan C.; Yabut, King C.; Umbreit, Neil T.; Van Epps, Heather A.; Meehl, Janet; Jones, Michele H.; Russel, Daniel; Velazquez-Muriel, Javier A.; Winey, Mark; Rayment, Ivan; Davis, Trisha N.; Sali, Andrej; Muller, Eric G. (2017-11-07). Bloom, Kerry S. (ed.). "The molecular architecture of the yeast spindle pole body core determined by Bayesian integrative modeling". Molecular Biology of the Cell. 28 (23). American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB): 3298–3314. doi:10.1091/mbc.e17-06-0397. ISSN 1059-1524. PMC 5687031. PMID 28814505.
  7. ^ Fong, Kimberly K.; Sarangapani, Krishna K.; Yusko, Erik C.; Riffle, Michael; Llauró, Aida; Graczyk, Beth; Davis, Trisha N.; Asbury, Charles L. (2017-07-07). Bloom, Kerry S. (ed.). "Direct measurement of the strength of microtubule attachment to yeast centrosomes". Molecular Biology of the Cell. 28 (14). American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB): 1853–1861. doi:10.1091/mbc.e17-01-0034. ISSN 1059-1524. PMC 5541836. PMID 28331072.
  8. ^ Lyon, Andrew S.; Morin, Geneviève; Moritz, Michelle; Yabut, King Clyde B.; Vojnar, Tamira; Zelter, Alex; Muller, Eric; Davis, Trisha N.; Agard, David A. (2016-07-15). Doxsey, Stephen (ed.). "Higher-order oligomerization of Spc110p drives γ-tubulin ring complex assembly". Molecular Biology of the Cell. 27 (14). American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB): 2245–2258. doi:10.1091/mbc.e16-02-0072. ISSN 1059-1524. PMC 4945142. PMID 27226487.
  9. ^ Scarborough, Emily Anne; Davis, Trisha N; Asbury, Charles L (2019-05-02). "Tight bending of the Ndc80 complex provides intrinsic regulation of its binding to microtubules". eLife. 8. eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd. doi:10.7554/elife.44489. ISSN 2050-084X. PMC 6516834. PMID 31045495.
  10. ^ Kim, Jae ook; Zelter, Alex; Umbreit, Neil T; Bollozos, Athena; Riffle, Michael; Johnson, Richard; MacCoss, Michael J; Asbury, Charles L; Davis, Trisha N (2017-02-13). "The Ndc80 complex bridges two Dam1 complex rings". eLife. 6. eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd. doi:10.7554/elife.21069. ISSN 2050-084X. PMC 5354518. PMID 28191870.
  11. ^ Zelter, Alex; Bonomi, Massimiliano; Kim, Jae ook; Umbreit, Neil T.; Hoopmann, Michael R.; Johnson, Richard; Riffle, Michael; Jaschob, Daniel; MacCoss, Michael J.; Moritz, Robert L.; Davis, Trisha N. (2015-11-12). "The molecular architecture of the Dam1 kinetochore complex is defined by cross-linking based structural modelling". Nature Communications. 6 (1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 8673. Bibcode:2015NatCo...6.8673Z. doi:10.1038/ncomms9673. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 4660060. PMID 26560693.
  12. ^ Powers, Andrew F.; Franck, Andrew D.; Gestaut, Daniel R.; Cooper, Jeremy; Gracyzk, Beth; Wei, Ronnie R.; Wordeman, Linda; Davis, Trisha N.; Asbury, Charles L. (2009). "The Ndc80 Kinetochore Complex Forms Load-Bearing Attachments to Dynamic Microtubule Tips via Biased Diffusion". Cell. 136 (5). Elsevier BV: 865–875. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2008.12.045. ISSN 0092-8674. PMC 2749323. PMID 19269365.
  13. ^ "UW president, biochemistry chair and mathematics professor named to American Academy of Arts and Sciences". UW News. 2020-04-23. Retrieved 2020-05-12.