Ph.D.: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Postdoctoral: The Ohio State University

Visiting Associate Professor: Yale University

Our group is using a molecular genetic approach to study the sulfur regulatory system of the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa. The sulfur regulatory system is made up of a set of trans-acting negative and positive regulatory genes that control a number of structural genes involved in sulfur acquisition and processing. We have concentrated on cloning the components of the control system and studying the genes at the molecular level. The cloned genes currently under study include the sulfur controller-2 negative regulatory gene which encodes a protein with F-box and WD40 domains, the cys-3 positive regulatory gene which encodes a DNA binding protein with a leucine zipper element, and the arylsulfatase structural gene. The studies being conducted are aimed at achieving an understanding of the novel regulatory interactions and organization of this eukaryotic multigene network.

Paietta J.V. (2015) Regulation of sulfur metabolism in filamentous fungi (Chapter ?) . In: Hoffmeister D. (ed). The Mycota: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Vol. III, 3rd edition. p. ?-?. Springer. in press

Paietta J.V. (2014) Transformation of lithium acetate-treated Neurospora crassa (Chapter 19). In:  van den Berg M.A., Maruthachalam K. (eds.). Genetic Transformation Systems in Fungi, Volume 1. Springer International.  in press

Reveal B.S. and Paietta J.V. (2013) Sulfur-regulated control of the met-2⁺gene of Neurospora crassa encoding cystathionine beta-lyase. BMC Res. Notes 6:259 (doi: 10.1186/1756-0500-6-259)

Reveal B.S. and Paietta J.V. (2012) Analysis of the sulfur-regulated control of the cystathionine gamma-lyase gene of Neurospora crassa. BMC Res. Notes 5:339 (doi: 10.1186/1756-0500-5-339)

Paietta J.V. (2010) Sulfur, Phosphorus and Iron Metabolism (Chapter 25). In: Borkovich K.A., Ebbole D.J. (eds). Cellular and Molecular Biology of Filamentous Fungi. ASM Press, Washington, D.C., pp. 359-375.

Paietta J.V. (2008) DNA-binding specificity of the CYS3 transcription factor of Neurospora crassa defined by binding-site selection. Fungal Genetics and Biology 45: 1166-1171. [Free full-text article.]

Paietta, J.V. (2004) Regulation of sulfur metabolism in mycelial fungi. In The Mycota: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Vol. 3, 2nd edition. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, p. 369-383 (Chapter 18).

Borkovich K.A., Alex L.A., Yarden O., Freitag M., Turner G.E., Read N.D., Seiler S., Bell-Pedersen D., Paietta J.V., Plesofsky N., Plamann M., Goodrich-Tanrikulu M., Schulte U., Mannhaupt G., Nargang F.E., Radford A., Selitrennikoff C., Galagan J.E., Dunlap JC, Loros J.J., Catcheside D., Inoue H., Aramayo R., Polymenis M., Selker E.U., Sachs M.S., Marzluf G.A., Paulsen I., Davis R., Ebbole D.J., Zelter A., Kalkman E.R., O'Rourke R., Bowring F., Yeadon J., Ishii C., Suzuki K., Sakai W., and Pratt R. (2004) Lessons from the Genome Sequence of Neurospora crassa: Tracing the Path from Genomic Blueprint to Multicellular Organism. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 68:1-108. [Free full-text article.]

Sizemore S.T. and Paietta J.V. (2002) Cloning and characterization of scon-3⁺, a new member of the Neurospora crassa sulfur regulatory system. Eukaryotic Cell 1: 875-883. [Free full-text article.]

Kumar A. and Paietta J.V. (1998) An additional role for the F-box motif: Gene regulation within the Neurospora crassa sulfur control network. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95, 2417-2422. [Free full-text article.]

Kumar A. and Paietta J.V. (1995) The sulfur controller-2 negative regulatory gene of Neurospora crassa encodes a protein with beta-transducin repeats. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92, 3343-3347. [Free full-text article.]

Paietta J.V. (1995) Analysis of CYS3 regulator function in Neurospora crassa by modification of leucine zipper dimerization specificity. Nucleic Acids Res. 23(6):1044-9. [Free full-text article.]

Paietta J.V. (1992) Production of the CYS3 regulator, a bZIP DNA-binding protein, is sufficient to induce sulfur gene expression in Neurospora crassa. Mol. Cell. Biol. 12(4):1568-77. [Free full-text article.]

Paietta J.V. (1990) Molecular cloning and analysis of the scon-2 negative regulatory gene of Neurospora crassa. Mol. Cell. Biol. 10(10):5207-14. [Free full-text article.]

Paietta J.V. (1989) Molecular cloning and regulatory analysis of the arylsulfatase structural gene of Neurospora crassa. Mol. Cell. Biol. 9(9):3630-7. [Free full-text article.]

Fu Y.-H., Paietta J.V., Mannix D.G., and Marzluf G.A. (1988) cys-3, the positive-acting sulfur regulatory gene of Neurospora crassa, encodes a protein with a putative leucine zipper DNA-binding element. Mol. Cell. Biol. 9: 1120-1127. [Free full-text article.]

Paietta J.V., Akins RA, Lambowitz A.M., and Marzluf G.A. (1987) Molecular cloning and characterization of the cys-3 regulatory gene of Neurospora crassa. Mol. Cell. Biol. 7(7):2506-11. [Free full-text article.]

Paietta J.V. and Marzluf G.A. (1985) Gene disruption by transformation in Neurospora crassa. Mol. Cell. Biol. 5(7):1554-9. [Free full-text article.]

Paietta J.V. and Marzluf G.A. (1985) Plasmid recovery from transformants and the isolation of chromosomal DNA segments improving plasmid replication in Neurospora crassa. Curr. Genetics  9(5):383-8. [Free full-text article.]

Paietta J.V. and Marzluf G.A. (1985) Development of shuttle vectors and gene manipulation techniques for Neurospora crassa. In Molecular Genetics of Filamentous Fungi. Alan R. Liss, Inc.: New York, p. 1-13.

Dhawale S.S., Paietta J.V. and Marzluf G.A.(1984) A new, rapid and efficient transformation procedure for Neurospora. Curr. Genetics 8: 77-79. [Free full-text article.]

Paietta, J.V. and Marzluf G.A. (1984) Development of a colony hybridization technique for Neurospora. Fungal Genet. Newsl. 31: 40. [Free full-text article.]

Paietta, J.V. and Marzluf G.A. (1984) Transformation of lithium acetate-treated Neurospora with minipreps of plasmid DNA. Fungal Genet. Newsl. 31:40-41. [Free full-text article.]

Paietta J.V. and Sargent M.L. (1983) Isolation and characterization of light-insensitive mutants of Neurospora crassa.Genetics. 104(1):11-21. [Free full-text article.]

Paietta, J.V. and Sargent M.L. (1983) Modification of blue light responses by riboflavin analogs in Neurospora crassa. Plant Physiol. 72: 764-766. [Free full-text article.]

Paietta, J.V. and Sargent M.L (1982) Blue light responses in nitrate reductase mutants of Neurospora crassa. Photochem. Photobiol. 35: 853-855.

Paietta J.V. (1982) Photooxidation and the evolution of circadian rhythmicity. J. Theor. Biol. 97(1):77-82. [Abstract.]

Paietta J.V. and Sargent M.L. (1981) Photoreception in Neurospora crassa: correlation of reduced light sensitivity with flavin deficiency. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A  78(9):5573-7. [Free full-text article.]

Pao C.C., Paietta J.V. and Gallant J.A. (1977) Synthesis of guanosine tetraphosphate (magic spot I) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 74(1):314-22. [Abstract.]

Paietta J.V., McDonald T.L. and Doermann A.H. (1976) Method for the isolation of bacteriphage T4 mutants that produce particles with giant capsids. J. Virol. 18(2):785-7. [Free full-text article.]

Clayton D.L. and Paietta J.V. (1972) Selection for circadian eclosion time in Drosophila melanogaster. Science  178(64):994-5. [Abstract.]

Nucleotide Sequences: 

U89492
Neurospora crassa arylsulfatase (ars-1) gene, complete cds
gi|2873362|gb|U89492.1|NCU89492[2873362]

U17251
Neurospora crassa negative regulator sulfur controller-2 (scon-2) gene, complete cds
gi|806757|gb|U17251.1|NCU17251[806757]

AF402682
Neurospora crassa negative regulator sulfur controller-3 (scon-3) gene, complete cds
gi|22086559|gb|AF402682.1|[22086559]

AY052777
Neurospora crassa sulfite reductase (cys-4) gene, complete cds
gi|19068027|gb|AY052777.1|[19068027]

AF401238
Neurospora crassa cystathionine gamma-lyase (cys-16) gene, complete cds
gi|15278112|gb|AF401238.1|AF401238[15278112]

AF401237
Neurospora crassa cystathionine beta-lyase (met-2) gene, complete cds
gi|15278107|gb|AF401237.1|AF401237[15278107]

AY050220
Neurospora crassa homoserine o-acetyltransferase (met-5) gene, complete cds
gi|15982696|gb|AY050220.1|[15982696]

AF404820
Neurospora crassa methionine synthase (met-8) gene, complete cds
gi|17385933|gb|AF404820.1|AF404820[17385933]

X62506
N.crassa DNA for autonomously replicating sequence
gi|2980|emb|X62506.1|NCARSDNA[2980]

M26008
Neurospora crassa cys-3 gene, complete cds
gi|168807|gb|M26008.1|NEUCYS3[168807]

AY135642
Neurospora crassa rip12b-1 mutant sulfur controller-3 (scon-3) mRNA, complete cds
gi|27501467|gb|AY135642.1|[27501467]