Welcome to Terry R. Conley's Home Page

Oklahoma City University

Department of Biology

 

The First Annual Dead Day Backyard Picnic, April 30, 1999.

Standing, from left: Terry Conley, Bob Fink, Gerald Weatherby, Cari Dubuc, Robbie Evans, Megan Brown, Sarah Litteken, Emily Williams, Michelle Henderson, Rowena Reyes, Susan Barber. Center front: James Papin.

OCU Address

Dr. Terry R. Conley, Chair and Professsor of Biology, and Assistant Dean, Petree College of Arts & Sciences

Oklahoma City University

2501 N. Blackwelder

Oklahoma City, OK 73106

OCU Offices and Laboratory

  • Biology Office: Room 206-C, Dawson-Loeffler Science and Mathematics Center
  • Petree College of Arts & Sciences Office: Room 176, Walker Center
  • Laboratory: Room 204, Dawson-Loeffler Science and Mathematics Center
  • Telephone: (405) 521-5482
  • Fax: (405) 521-5477
  • E-mail: tconley@okcu.edu

Education

Research Interests

Since 2002 I have collaborated with Dr. David Kerk of Point Loma Nazarene University (San Diego, CA) on a NSF-funded research project, Functional Genomics of Alpha-Helical Scaffold Proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana. Funding for this project was from the National Science Foundation 2010 Project. This project involves investigations into the structure and function of a class of protein structural motif which mediates the formation of extensive protein surfaces specialized for hosting multiprotein interactions. These "solenoid" scaffolding structures differ (relative to other small binding motifs) in that they are composed of multiple copies of mostly alpha-helical repeating units, which are well conserved at the tertiary and secondary structural levels, but much less conserved at the primary sequence level. This renders the detection of these structures a demanding task, involving structural information defined by sets of related sequences, and drawing on critical solved three dimensional structures. Recent solved structures have revealed that TPR (tetratricopeptide) repeats, ANK (ankyrin) repeats, ARM (Armadillo) repeats, and HEAT repeats comprise a related superfamily. In animal systems these structural motifs are critical to protein-protein interactions mediating such diverse cellular activities as intercompartmental transport, control of the cell cycle, and signal transduction. Evidence from Dr. Kerk's research has revealed the presence of these alpha-helical repeat motifs in protein kinases and phosphatases from Arabidopsis. With a few prominent exceptions, the distribution and functions of proteins containing these repeats in higher plants is unknown. Our collabboration combines bioinformatics and molecular genetics and biochemistry to systematically survey the presence and binding interactions of alpha-helical solenoidal scaffolding proteins in Arabidopsis. Scaffold proteins are identified by application of a battery of structural bioinformatic techniques. These protens are then used as probes in two-hybrid screens to discover their binding partners.In addition, T-DNA tagged knockout lines are screened for phenotypes that may suggest protein function. The predicted structures of the identified solenoidal protein binding partners can then be investigated by applying structural bioinformatic techniques, to derive hypotheses about cellular function(s). The structural and evolutionary interrelationships of identified solenoidal scaffolding proteins will be inferred. The results of this project will present the plant research community with an inventory of Arabidopsis solenoidal scaffolding proteins, their protein interaction partners, functional hypotheses, and a set of interrelationships, which will provide a rich source of material to support future work to investigate a wide variety of multiprotein cellular pathways and processes.

Tissue-Cultured Arabidopsis thaliana

Photograph No. K3954-7, ARS Image Gallery

I am also interested in disjunct (relict) populations of plant species. One such species is sugar maple, Acer saccharum, which occurs in a continuous population in the eastern part of Oklahoma and is found in several small, isolated populations in western Oklahoma. These relict populations occur in deep, cool, humid canyon or other sheltered habitats, and are geographically isolated from the continuous population in the east. It is hypothesized that these relict populations have been separated since the end of the Pleistocene glaciation, for approximately 10,000-12,000 years. In collaboration with one of my OCU colleagues, Dr. Susan C. Barber, we have collected plant materials from locations in eastern Oklahoma and from relict populations in the Wichita Mountains and from the Caddo Canyons in the west. We are currently examining the morphological and genetic variation within and between these populations.

 

Olympic Peninsula, May 2002

Selected Publications

 

Kerk, D., Conley, T.R., Rodriguez, F., Tran, H., Nimick, M., Muench, Douglas G., and Moorhead, G. (2006) A chloroplast-localized dual-specificity protein phosphatase in Arabidopsis contains a phylogenetically dispersed and ancient carbohydrate-binding domain, which binds the polysaccharide starch. The Plant Journal 46: 400-413.

Kindiger, B. and Conley, T. R. (2002) Competition and Survival of Perennial Cool-Season Grass Forages Seeded with Winter Wheat in the Southern Great Plains. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 21: 27-45.

Kindiger, B. and Conley, T. R. (2002) Companion cropping perennial cool-season grass forages with winter wheat. In Reports of Research Projects and Research in Progress on Climate and Natural Resources, Livestock Production, and Forage Production, Eds. MacKown, C. T. and Garbrecht, J. Government Printing Office Publication No. 2002-786-753.

Conley, T.R., H.-P. Peng and M.-C. Shih (1999) Mutations affecting induction of glycolytic and fermentative genes during germination and environmental stresses in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiology 119: 599-607.

Conley, T.R., R.E. Sharp and J.C. Walker (1997) Water deficit rapidly stimulates the activity of a protein kinase in the elongation zone of the maize primary root. Plant Physiology 113: 219-226.

Conley, T.R. and M.-C. Shih (1995) Effects of light and chloroplast functional state on expression of nuclear genes encoding chloroplast glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase in long hypocotyl (hy) mutants and wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiology 108: 1013-1022.

Conley, T.R., S.-C. Park, H.-B. Kwon, H.-P. Peng and M.-C. Shih (1994) Characterization of cis-actingelements in light regulation of the nuclear gene encoding the A subunit of chloroplast isozymes of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase from Arabidopsis thaliana.Molecular and Cellular Biology 14: 2525-2533.

Dewdney, J., Conley, T.R., Shih, M.-C., and Goodman, H.M. (1993) Effects of red and blue light on expression of nuclear genes encoding chloroplast glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase of Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiology 103: 1115-1121.

 

 

Selected Poster Resources

Creating Posters and Slides (NIH Training Website) http://www.training.nih.gov/careers/careercenter/publish.html

Download OCU Poster Printing Policy Academic Affairs Policy

Download Powerpoint Template (40" Wide x 36" Tall) Landscape Template

Download Powerpoint Template (24" Wide x 36" Tall) Portrait Template

Download OCU Banner

 

E-Mail Address:tconley@okcu.edu

 

Go to the Department of Biology Home Page

 

Go to the OCU Home Page

 

Revised May 4, 2006