Current Projects
• Supervisor: Dr. Mark P. Foster
• Determine how a mutation in a central nervous system (CNS)-specific tRNA-Arg, which has been linked to neurodegeneration in mice, impacts tRNA biogenesis [collaboration with Dr. Susan L. Ackerman (UCSD)]
• Utilize sequence analyses, hydroxyl radical-mediated footprinting experiments, and native mass spectrometry to identify novel structural elements in halophilic archaeal RNase P RNAs [collaboration with Drs. Charles J. Daniels and Vicki H. Wysocki (OSU)]
Education and Training
Postdoctoral Researcher – The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
• Department: Biochemistry
• Advisor: Dr. Venkat Gopalan
• Purified and characterized plant RNase P
• Assessed the efficacy of external guide sequences (EGS) and M1GS for targeted RNA degradation in plants
Postdoctoral Researcher – The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
• Department: Plant Biology
• Advisor: Dr. Fred D. Sack
• Identified and characterized the Arabidopsis thaliana FOUR LIPS gene that restricts the number of divisions by the guard mother cell to one, thereby preventing the appearance of “four lips”, which arise from two (or more) cell divisions
Ph.D. – Yale University (New Haven, CT)
• Program: Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB)
• Advisor: Dr. Timothy M. Nelson
• Dissertation: Regulation of cell-specific expression of C4 photosynthetic genes in Flaveria: a comparative study
B.S. – University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM)
• Major: Biochemistry
• Advisor: Dr. Robert H. Glew
• Thesis: Continuous spectrophotometric assays for ß-glucosidases acting on the plant glucosides L-picein and prunasin
Publications
• Daniels CJ*, Lai LB, Chen T-H, and Gopalan V. (2019) Both kinds of RNase P in all domains of life: Surprises galore. RNA, 25: 286-291.
• Lai LB*, Tanimoto A^, Lai SM^, Chen W-Y, Marathe IA, Westhof E, Wysocki VH, and Gopalan V*. (2017) A novel double kink-turn module in euryarchaeal RNase P RNAs. Nucleic Acids Res., 45: 7432-7440. [SI] ^joint second authors
• Lei Q, Lee E, Keerthisinghe S, Lai L, Li M, Lucas JR, Wen X, Ren X*, and Sack FD. (2015) The FOUR LIPS and MYB88 transcription factor genes are widely expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana during development. Am. J. Bot., 102: 1521-1528.
• Manivannan SN, Lai LB, Gopalan V*, and Simcox A*. (2015) Transcriptional control of an essential ribozyme in Drosophila reveals an ancient evolutionary divide in animals. PLoS Genet., 11: e1004893. [SI 1, 2]
• Lai SM, Lai LB, Foster MP*, and Gopalan V*. (2014) The L7Ae protein binds to two kink-turns in the Pyrococcus furiosus RNase P RNA. Nucleic Acids Res., 42: 13328-13338. [SI]
• Ma X°, Lai LB°, Lai SM°, Tanimoto A, Foster MP, Wysocki VH*, and Gopalan V*. (2014) Uncovering the stoichiometry of Pyrococcus furiosus RNase P, a multi-subunit catalytic ribonucleoprotein complex, by surface-induced dissociation and ion mobility mass spectrometry. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl., 53: 11483-11487. [SI] °joint first authors
• Govinda Rajulu MB°, Lai LB°, Murali TS, Gopalan V*, and Suryanarayanan TS*. (2014) Several fungi from fire-prone forests of southern India can utilize furaldehydes. Mycol. Prog., 13: 1049-1056. °joint first authors
• Han B°, Ujor V°, Lai LB, Gopalan V, and Ezeji TC*. (2013) Use of proteomic analysis to elucidate the role of calcium in acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation by Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 79: 282-293. [SI] °joint first authors
• Chen W-Y, Singh D, Lai LB, Stiffler MA, Lai HD, Foster MP, and Gopalan V*. (2012) Fidelity of tRNA 5′-maturation: a possible basis for the functional dependence of archaeal and eukaryal RNase P on multiple protein cofactors. Nucleic Acids Res., 40: 4666-4680. [SI]
• Lai LB, Bernal-Bayard P, Mohannath G, Lai SM, Gopalan V*, and Vioque A*. (2011) A functional RNase P protein subunit of bacterial origin in some eukaryotes. Mol. Genet. Genomics, 286: 359-369.
• Lai LB°, Chan PP°, Cozen AE, Bernick DL, Brown JW, Gopalan V*, and Lowe TM*. (2010) Discovery of a minimal form of RNase P in Pyrobaculum. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 107: 22493-22498. [SI] (Highlighted on the cover and in a commentary) °joint first authors
• Cho I-M, Lai LB, Susanti D, Mukhopadhyay B, and Gopalan V*. (2010) Ribosomal protein L7Ae is a subunit of archaeal RNase P. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 107: 14573-14578. [SI]
• Lai LB, Cho I-M, Chen W-Y, and Gopalan V*. (2010) Archaeal RNase P: a mosaic of its bacterial and eukaryal relatives. In F Liu and S Altman (Eds.), Ribonuclease P (Protein Reviews, vol. 10; pp. 153-172). New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media, LLC.
• McClain WH*, Lai LB, and Gopalan V. (2010) Trials, travails, and triumphs: an account of RNA catalysis in RNase P. J. Mol. Biol., 397: 627-646.
• Lai LB, Vioque A, Kirsebom LA*, and Gopalan V*. (2010) Unexpected diversity of RNase P, an ancient tRNA processing enzyme: challenges and prospects. FEBS Lett., 584: 287-296. (Invited article for a special issue)
• Gopichandran V, Lai LB, and Gopalan V*. (2006) Protein-energy malnutrition. In RH Glew and MD Rosenthal (Eds.), Clinical Studies in Medical Biochemistry, (3rd edition; pp. 255-265). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
• Lai LB, Gopichandran V, and Gopalan V*. (2006) Tangier disease: a disorder in the reverse cholesterol transport pathway. In RH Glew and MD Rosenthal (Eds.), Clinical Studies in Medical Biochemistry, (3rd edition; pp. 159-166). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
• Lai LB, Nadeau JA, Lucas J, Lee E-K, Nakagawa T, Zhao L, Geisler M, and Sack FD*. (2005) The Arabidopsis R2R3 MYB proteins FOUR LIPS and MYB88 restrict divisions late in the stomatal cell lineage. Plant Cell, 17: 2754-2767.
• Pulukkunat DK, Stephen Raj ML, Pattanayak D, Lai LB, and Gopalan V*. (2003) Exploring the potential of plant RNase P as a functional genomics tool. In E. Grotewold (Ed.), Plant Functional Genomics (Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 236; pp. 295-309). Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, Inc.
• Tsai H-Y°, Lai LB°, and Gopalan V*. (2002) A modified pBluescript-based vector for facile cloning and transcription of RNAs. Anal. Biochem., 303: 214-217. °joint first authors
• Lai LB, Tausta SL, and Nelson TM*. (2002) Differential regulation of transcripts encoding cytosolic NADP-malic enzyme in C3 and C4 Flaveria species. Plant Physiol., 128: 140-149.
• Lai LB, Wang L, and Nelson TM*. (2002) Distinct but conserved functions for two chloroplastic NADP-malic enzyme isoforms in C3 and C4 Flaveria species. Plant Physiol., 128: 125-139.
• McGonigle B, Lai LB, and Nelson T. (1996) Sequences of seven cDNAs (Accession Nos. U29933 to U29939) encoding the rubisco small subunit from Flaveria pringlei. Plant Physiol., 111: 1354 (Plant Gene Register PGR96-057).
• Lai LB, Gopalan V, and Glew RH*. (1992) Continuous spectrophotometric assays for ß-glucosidases acting on the plant glucosides L-picein and prunasin. Anal. Biochem., 200: 365-369.