Anne Grove

Gregory Cannaday Burns ProfessorAnne Grove
Ouachita Parish Chapter Alumni Professor

PhD: University of Copenhagen, Denmark, 1990

Phone: 225-578-5148
Lab Phone: 225-578-5223
Office: 534 Choppin Hall
Lab: 532/536/540 Choppin Hall
E-mail: agrove@lsu.edu 

Grove Lab

Areas of Interest

Bacterial responses to stress

When a bacterial pathogen infects a host, the host defends itself by producing toxic compounds and inducing unfavorable conditions for the bacterium. The bacterium in turn responds to the new environmental cues, often subverting host defenses by utilizing host-derived signals to trigger upregulation of virulence genes. We are focusing on bacterial transcription factors that respond to such host-derived signals to control expression of virulence genes. Understanding mechanisms by which bacterial pathogens change gene expression programs in response to the environmental cues associated with host infection is critical for development of antibacterial agents.

A major focus is on MarR family transcriptional regulators and the mechanism by which the binding of ligands controls their ability to regulate gene expression. For example, we are currently focusing on how such transcription factors alter gene expression programs in response to oxidative stress, purine catabolites, or exposure to sublethal concentrations of antibiotics.

Organization of genomic DNA

Genomic DNA is compacted to fit into cellular compartments. We are interested in architectural proteins, so named because a primary function is to induce a specific DNA topology and control DNA compaction. Architectural DNA-binding proteins play important roles in controlling processes such as DNA repair and gene expression. In eukaryotes, failure to regulate these processes correctly may lead to mutagenesis, genomic instability, and cancer.

Current goals pertain to the mechanism by which yeast Hmo1p stabilizes nucleosomal arrays and the role of Hmo1p in regulation of gene activity. Of specific interest is the role of Hmo1p in coordinating gene expression in response to signaling by the Target of Rapamycin (TOR) kinase pathway, which is important for regulating cell growth in response to signals such as nutrient limitation and DNA damage stress.

Selected Publications

Thapa, S. S. and Grove, A. Impaired purine homeostasis plays a primary role in trimethoprim-mediated induction of virulence genes in Burkholderia thailandensis. Mol. Microbiol. 115, 610-622 (2021). 

Deochand, D. K., Pande, A., Meariman, J. K. and Grove, A. Redox-sensing by PecS from the plant pathogen Pectobacterium atrosepticum and its effect on gene expression and the conformation of PecS-bound promoter DNA. Biochemistry 58, 2564-2575 (2019).

Bhattacharyya, N., Lemon, T. L. and Grove, A. A role for Vibrio vulnificus PecS during hypoxia. Sci. Rep. 9, 2797 (2019).

Sabrin, A., Gioe, B. W., Gupta, A. and Grove, A. An EmrB multidrug efflux pump in Burkholderia thailandensis with unexpected roles in antibiotic resistance. J. Biol. Chem. 294, 1891-1903 (2019).

Gupta, A., Bedre, R., Thapa, S. S., Sabrin, A., Wang, G., Dassanayake, M. and Grove, A. Global awakening of cryptic biosynthetic gene clusters in Burkholderia thailandensis. ACS Chem. Biol. 12, 3012-3021 (2017).

Panday, A., Gupta, A., Srinivasa, K., Xiao, L., Smith, M. D. and Grove, A. DNA damage regulates direct association of TOR kinase with the RNA polymerase II-transcribed HMO1 gene. Mol. Biol. Cell. 28, 2449-2459 (2017).

Gupta, A., Pande, A., Sabrin, A., Thapa, S. S., Gioe, B. W. and Grove, A. MarR family transcription factors from Burkholderia species: Hidden clues to control of virulence-associated genes. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 83, e00039-18 (2019). Review.  

Deochand, D. K. and Grove, A. MarR family transcription factors: Dynamic variations on a common scaffold. Crit. Rev. Biochem. Mol. Biol. 52, 595-613 (2017). Review.

Panday, A. and Grove, A. Yeast HMO1 - linker histone reinvented. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 81:e00037-16 (2017). Review.