CURRICULUM VITAE
(June, 2003)
Rochelle Easton Esposito
Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology
University of Chicago, 920 East 58th St., Chicago, Illinois 60637
Tel: 773-702-8046
Fax: 773-702-8093
E-mail: re-esposito@uchicago.edu
Education:
Professional
Experience:
Honors &
Awards:
Professional
Activities:
1958-1962
Undergraduate: B.S., Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, New York
1962-1967
Graduate: Ph.D., Department of Genetics, University of Washington, Seattle
Thesis: Genetic Recombination in Synchronized Cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Advisor: H.L. Roman
1967-1968
Postgraduate: Postdoctoral Fellow, Mol. Biol. Lab., University of Wisconsin-Madison
Advisor: H.O. Halvorson
1969-1970
1970-1975
1975-1982
1982-1984
1984-pres
1988-1997
1992-2002
1996-2000
Assistant Professor: Collegiate Division of Biology, University of Chicago
Assistant Professor: Dept. of Biology, University of Chicago
Associate Professor: Dept. of Biology, University of Chicago
Professor: Dept. of Biology, University of Chicago
Professor: Dept. of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Chicago
Director, NRSA Genetics and Regulation Training Grant, University of Chicago
Chair, Committee on Genetics, University of Chicago
Co-Director, Office of Basic Science and Graduate Affairs, University of Chicago
1962-1967
1967-1968
1976-1977
1983-1986
1995-1996
1996-1997
1998-pres
2003
NIH Predoctoral Genetics Traineeship
NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship
NSF-CNRS Exchange of Scientists Fellowship
Treasurer, Genetics Society of America
Vice-President, Genetics Society of America
President, Genetics Society of America
Fellow, American Society of Microbiology
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
1970, 1971
1975-1976
1973-1980
1978-1981
1981-2000
1981-1983
1982-1986
1986-1989
1987-1989
1987-1990
1989
1991-1993
1991
1991, 1995
1993
1996-1998
1996-1997
1996-2001
Visiting Scholar, Dept. of Genetics, University of Washington, Seattle (summers)
Visiting Scholar, Universite de Paris-Sud, Orsay, France
Editorial Board of GENETICS
Member, NIH Genetic Basis of Disease Committee
Coordinator, Midwest Yeast Club
Chairperson, GSA, VI International Congress of Genetics Travel Committee
Member, NIH Biomedical Sciences Study Section
Co-Chair, National Committee for Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology
Chairperson, NIH Biomedical Sciences Study Section
Chairperson, Genetics Society of America Affiliate Groups Committee
Co-Organizer, ASCB, Chromosome Structure and Segregation
Member, NIH Genome Research Review Committee
NIGMS Council, ad hoc
Co-Organizer, International Conference on Meiosis, Obertraun, Austria
Chairperson, GSA Nominations Committee
Member, Joint Steering Committee for Public Policy
Member, NSF Microbial Genetics Panel
World Book Science Year Editorial Advisory Board
1997-pres
2001-2002
Professional
Societies:
Executive Producer, Conversations in Genetics, GSA Video History Project
UC Faculty Representative to Federal Demonstration Partnership
Genetics Society of America
American Society of Microbiology
American Society for Cell Biology
Research Interests:
Genetic control of meiosis; genetic recombination; chromosome segregation;
regulation of gene expression; yeast genetics
Meiosis plays a central role in the sexual reproduction of nearly all eukaryotes. The major
genetic events that occur during its two cell divisions are critical for generating genetic
diversity and producing offspring with normal chromosome numbers. The long-range
objective of our research program is to understand the genetic mechanisms that govern
meiotic development and coordinate a complex series of events into a successful
developmental pathway. Our approach is to genetically identify and determine the
structure, function, and regulation of selected meiosis-specific genes required for
recombination, chromosome segregation and spore formation, and to use these genes to
uncover critical regulatory functions that specify the orderly progression of meiotic events.
Of particular interest is the relationship between meiotic and mitotic cell division controls,
and the extent to which they interact. The unicellular eukaryote, Saccharomyces
cerevisiae, is utilized as a model system The experimental program involves: 1) Analysis
of the specific functions of selected meiotic genes in controlling exchange, segregation,
and spore formation. 2) DNA array analysis of meiosis-specific expression and
characterization of key positive and negative regulators controlling the meiotic
transcription program. 3) The genetic basis of commitment to meiosis.
Publications:
1. Esposito, R.E. and R. Holliday. 1964. The effect of 5-fluorodeoxyuridine on genetic replication and mitotic crossing over
in synchronized cultures of Ustilago maydis. Genetics 50:1009-1017.
2. Esposito, R.E. 1968. Genetic recombination in synchronized cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics 59:191-210.
3. Esposito, M.S. and R.E. Esposito. 1969. The genetic control of sporulation in Saccharomyces I. The isolation of
temperature-sensitive sporulation-deficient mutants. Genetics 61:79-89.
4. Esposito, M.S., R.E. Esposito, M. Arnaud and H.O. Halvorson. 1969. Acetate utilization and macromolecular synthesis
during sporulation of yeast. J. Bact. 100:180-186.
5. Esposito, M.S., R.E. Esposito, M. Arnaud and H.O. Halvorson. 1970. Conditional mutants of meiosis in yeast. J. Bact.
104:202-210.
6. Esposito, R.E., N. Frink, P. Bernstein and M.S. Esposito. 1972. The genetic control of sporulation in Saccharomyces. II.
Dominance and complementation of mutants of meiosis and spore formation. Mole. Gen. Genet. 114:241-248.
7. Esposito, M.S. and R.E. Esposito. 1973. Genetics and physiology of meiosis and sporulation in Saccharomyces
cerevisiae. In: Regulation de la sporulation microbienne, Coll. International. du C.N.R.S. Gif-sur-Yvette, No 227: 135137.
8. Pinon, R., Y. Salts, G. Simchen, M. Esposito, R.E. Esposito, T. Petes, W. Fangman, B. Byers and H.L. Roman. 1973.
Molecular studies of meiosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In: Chromosome Today, Suppl. to Heredity 4:77-84.
9. Esposito, M.S. and R.E. Esposito. 1974. Genes controlling meiosis and spore formation in yeast. Genetics 78:215-225.
10. Esposito, M.S. and R.E. Esposito and P.B. Moens. 1974. Genetic analysis of two-spored asci produced by the spo3
mutant of Saccharomyces. Molec. Gen. Genet. 135:91-95.
11. Esposito, R.E., D.J. Plotkin and M.S. Esposito. 1974. The relationship between genetic recombination and commitment
to chromosomal segregation at meiosis. In: Mechamisms of Recombination. Edited by R.F. Gress. pp. 277-285. Plenum
Press, New York.
12. Esposito, R.E. and M.S. Esposito. 1974. Genetic recombination and commitment to meiosis in Saccharomyces. Proc.
Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 71:3172-3176.
13. Moens, P.B., R.E. Esposito and M.S. Esposito. 1974. Aberrant nuclear behavior at meiosis and anucleate spore formation
by sporulation-deficient (spo) mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Exp. Cell Res. 83:166-174.
14. Esposito, M.S., M. Bolotin-Fukuhara and R.E. Esposito. 1975. Anti-mutator activity during mitosis by a meiotic mutant
of yeast. Molec. Gen. Genet. 139:9-18.
15. Esposito, M.S. and R.E. Esposito. 1975. Mutants of meiosis and ascospore formation. Methods in Cell Biology 9:303326.
16. Haber, J.E., M.S. Esposito, P.T. Magee and R.E. Esposito. 1975. Current trends in the genetic and biochemical study of
yeast sporulation. In: Spores. Edited by P. Gerhardt, R.N. Costilow and H. Sadoff. Vol. VI:132-137, Am. Soc.
Microbiol., Washington.
17. Jacobson, G., R. Pinon, R.E. Esposito and M.S. Esposito. 1975. Single-strand sissions of chromosomal DNA during
commitment to recombination at meiosis. Proc. Natl.Acad. Sci. (USA) 72:1887-1891.
18. Baker, B., A.T.C. Carpenter, M.S. Esposito, R.E. Esposito and L. Sandler. 1976. The genetic control of meiosis. Ann.
Rev. Genetics. Vol. 10:53-134.
19. Moens, P.B., M. Mowat, M.S. Esposito and R.E. Esposito. 1977. Meiosis in a temperature-sensitive DNA synthesis
mutant and in an apomictic yeast strain (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. 277:351-358.
20. Rothstein, R.J., R.E. Esposito and M.S. Esposito. 1977. The effect of ochre suppression on meiosis and ascospore
formation in Saccharomyces. Genetics 85:35-54.
21. Esposito, M.S. and R.E. Esposito. 1978. Gene conversion, paramutation and controlling elements: a treasure of
exceptions. In: Cell Biology, A Comprehensive Treatise. Edited by D.H. Prescott and L. Goldstein. Vol. 1, pp. 59-92.
Academic Press, New York.
22. Esposito, M.S. and R.E. Esposito. 1978. Aspects of the genetic control of meiosis and ascospore development inferred
from the study of spo (sporulation-deficient) mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Biologie Cellulaire 33:93-102.
23. Malone, R.E. and R.E. Esposito. 1980. The RAD52 gene is required for homothallic interconversion of mating types and
spontaneous mitotic recombination in yeast. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 77:503-507.
24. Klapholz, S. and R.E. Esposito. 1980a. Isolation of spo12-1 and spo13-1 from a natural variant of yeast that undergoes a
single meiotic division. Genetics 96:567-588.
25. Klapholz, S. and R.E. Esposito. 1980b. Recombination and chromosome segregation during the single division meiosis
in spo12-1 and spo13-1 diploids. Genetics 96:589-611.
26. Malone, R.E. and R.E. Esposito. 1981. Recombinationless meiosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol. Cell. Biol. 1:89101.
27. Esposito, R.E. and S. Klapholz. 1982. Meiosis and ascospore development. In: The Molecular Biology of the Yeast
Saccharomyces. Edited by J.N. Strathern, E.W. Jones and J.R. Broach. Vol. 1: pp. 211-287. Cold Spring Harbor
Laboratorories Press, New York.
28. Klapholz, S. and R.E. Esposito. 1982. A new mapping procedure for whole chromosome linkage utilizing a
recombination-deficient sporulation-defective mutant of yeast. Genetics 100:387-412.
29. Klapholz, S. and R.E. Esposito. 1982. Chromosomes XIV and XVII of Saccharomyces cerevisiae constitute a single
linkage group. Mol. Cell. Biol. 2;1399-1409.
30. Wagstaff, J.E., S. Klapholz, and R.E. Esposito. 1982. Meiosis in haploid yeast. Proc.Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 79:29862990.
31. Klapholz, S., C.S. Waddell and R.E. Esposito. 1985. The role of the SPO11 gene in meiotic recombination in yeast
Genetics 110:187-216.
32. Wagstaff, J., S. Klapholz, C.S. Waddell, L. Jensen, and R.E. Esposito. 1985. Meiotic exchange within and between
chromosomes require a common Rec function in yeast. Mol. Cell. Biol. 5:3532-3544.
33. Wang, H.-T., S. Frackman, J. Kowalisyn, R.E. Esposito and R. Elder. 1987. Developmental regulation of SPO13, a gene
required for separation of homologous chromosomes at meiosis I. Mol. Cell. Biol. 7: 1425-1433.
34. Atcheson, C., B. DiDomenico, S. Frackman, R. E. Esposito, and R. Elder. 1987. Isolation,DNA sequence and regulation
of a meiosis-specific eucaryotic recombination gene. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 84: 8035-8039.
35. Gottlieb, S., and R. E. Esposito. 1989. A new role for SIR2: A yeast transcriptional silencer gene suppresses
recombination in rDNA. Cell 56: 771-776.
36. Gottlieb, S., Wagstaff, J., and R. E. Esposito. 1989. Evidence for two pathways of intrachromosomal recombination in
yeast. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 86: 7072-7076.
37. Strich, R. S., M. Slater, and R. E. Esposito. 1989. Identification of negative regulation genes that govern the expression
of early meiotic genes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 86: 10018-10012.
38. Buckingham, L. E., H-T. Wang, R. T. Elder, R. M. McCarroll, M. R. Slater and R. E. Esposito. 1990. Nucleotide
sequence and promoter analysis of SPO13, a meiosis-specific gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
(USA) 87:9406-9410.
39. Esposito, R. E., M. Dresser and M. Breitenbach. 1991. Identifying sporulation genes, visualizing synaptonemal
complexes and large-scale spore and spore wall purification. Methods in Enzymology. 194:110-131.
40. Videl, M., R. Strich, R.E. Esposito and R.F. Gaber. 1991. RPD1/SIN3/UME4 is required for maximal activation and
repression of diverse yeast genes. Mol. Cell. Biol. 11: 6306-6316.
41. Honigberg, S.M., C. Conicella and R.E. Esposito. 1992 Commitment to meiosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae:
involvement of the SPO14 gene. Genetics, 130: 703-716.
42. Surosky, R. and R.E. Esposito. 1992. Early meiotic messages are highly unstable in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol.
Cell. Biol. 12: 3948-3958.
43. Honigberg, S., McCarroll, R.M., and R.E. Esposito. 1993 Regulatory mechanisms in meiosis. Current Opinions in Cell
Biology 5: 219-225.
44. Atcheson, C., and R.E. Esposito. 1993 Meiotic recombination in yeast. Current Opinions in Genetics and Development
3: 736-744.
45. Esposito, R.E., 1993 Humble Beginings. in, The Early Days of Yeast Genetics, Eds. M. Hall and P. Linder, Cold Sring
Harbor Press, N.Y., 417-433.
46. Strich, R., Surosky, R.T. Steber, C, Dubois, E., Messenguy, F., and R.E. Esposito. 1994 UME6 is a key regulator of
nitrogen repression and meiotic development. Genes and Development 8: 796-810.
47. Surosky, R.T., Strich, R. and R.E. Esposito. 1994 The yeast UME5 gene regulates the stability of meiotic mRNAs in
response to glucose. Mol. Cell. Biol. 14: 3446-3458.
48. Honigberg, S.M., and R.E. Esposito. 1994 Reversal of cell determination in yeast meiosis: post-commitment arrest
allows return to mitotic growth. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. (USA) 91: 6559-6563.
49. McCarroll, R.M. and R.E. Esposito. 1994 SPO13 negatively regulates the progression of mitotic and meiotic nuclear
division in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics 138:47-60.
50. Anderson, S., C. Steber, R.E. Esposito and J. Coleman 1995. UME6, a negative regulator of meiosis in S. cerevisiae,
contains a C-terminal Zn2Cys6 binuclear cluster which binds the URS1 DNA sequence in a Zinc-dependent manner.
Protein Struc. 4:1832-1843.
51. Steber, C. and R.E. Esposito 1995. Control of meiotic development by the UME6 regulatory switch. Proc. Natl. Acad.
Sci. (USA) 92; 12490-12494.
52. Tevzadze, G., A.R. Mushegian, and R.E. Esposito 1996. The SPO1 gene product required for meiosis in yeast has a high
similarity to phospholipase B enzymes . Gene 177: 253-255.
53. Kupiec, M. Byers, B. Esposito, R.E., and A.P. Mitchell 1996. Meiosis and sporulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In.,
The Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Yeast Saccharomyces. Vol 3:889-1036. Eds, E.W. Jones, J.R. Pringle, and
J.R. Broach, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories Press, New York.
54. Fritze, C.E., K. Verschueren, R. Strich and R.E. Esposito 1997. Direct evidence for SIR2 modulation of chromatin
structure in yeast rDNA. EMBO J. 16: 6495-6509.
55. Tevzadze, G., H. Swift and R.E. Esposito 2000. SPO1, a phospholipase B homolog, is specifically required for spindle
pole body duplication during meiosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Chromosoma 109: 72-85.
56. Rutkowski, L.H., and R.E. Esposito 2000. A novel allele of spo13 reveals a role for recombination in promoting
reductional segregation during meiosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics 155: 1607-1621.
57. Primig, M., R. Williams, E. Winzeler, G. Tevzadze, A. Conway, S. Y. Hwang, R. Davis and R.E. Esposito 2000. The
core meiotic transcriptome in budding yeast. Nature Genetics 26: 415-423.
58. Washburn, B.K. and R.E. Esposito 2001. Identification of the Sin3 binding site in Ume6 defines a two-step process for
conversion of Ume6 from a transcriptional repressor to an activator in yeast. Mol Cell Biol 21: 2057-2069.
59. Rabitsch, K.P., A. Toth, M. Galova, A. Schleiffer, G. Schaffner, E. Aigner, C. Rupp, A.M. Penkner, A.C. MorenoBorchart, M. Primig, R.E. Esposito, F. Klein, M. Knop, K. Nasmyth. 2001. A screen for genes required for meiosis and
spore formation based on whole-genome expression. Current Biology 11: 1001-1009.
60. Williams, R., M. Primig, B. Washburn, E. Winzeler, M. Bellis, C. Sarrauste de Menthiere, R. Davis and R.E. Esposito
2002 The Ume6 regulon coordinates metabolic and meiotic gene expression in yeast. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002
99:13431-13436.