Department of Biology		Phone:  (801) 581-3592
	University of Utah		Fax:    (801) 581-4668
	257 South 1400 East		e-mail:  bibikov@biology.utah.edu
	Salt Lake City, UT 84112	web page:http://www.cc.utah.edu/~sb10a50

Curriculum vitae:

EDUCATION:

1977 - 1982   Moscow State University, M.S. Biochemistry (University Diploma)

1982 - 1987 Moscow State University, Ph.D. Biochemistry (Candidate of Science)

1985 - 1991 JUNIOR RESEARCHER, SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHER

I developed my knowledge of basic biochemistry and advanced bioenergetics while studying and doing research in the Department of Bioenergetics in the A.N.Belozersky Institute. As a junior researcher I was involved in a search for methyl-accepting taxis proteins in cyanobacteria and diatoms.

At the same time I was studying the phototaxis in halobacteria. We found out that halobacteria were ideal object for investigating the role of a bioenergetic component in signal transduction. They have unique proton pump - bacteriorhodopsin, interesting photoreactions and signal transduction chain resembling the eubacterial one. I found out that the aerotactic and phototactic reactions in halobacteria are interconnected and described the difference between the specialized phototaxis due to the sensory rhodopsins and photobehavior ultimately connected with the function of bacteriorhodopsin.

I was working as a teaching assistant all this years, participating in the extended learning program in bioenergetics for undergraduates and graduating the students in bioenergetics. At the end as a senior researcher I was a leader of a small group involved in bacterial chemotaxis studies. My student - Ruslan Grishanin got a special premium for young scientists from the European Academy for the participation in the studies of halobacterial photoreception. Methods which we were using included visual and fluorescent microscopy (dark-field, interference etc), electrophoretic technique (including O'Farrell's 2D-electrophoresis), radioactive measurements (radioimmunoassays, gel quantitation) and various microbiological and biochemical techniques.

1991 - 1994 POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATE

The studies in Martinsried concentrated on two important topics: site-specific mutagenesis of the proteins in the photosynthetic reaction centers and consequent electrochemical studies of the chromatophores in Moscow as part of the joint project, and the study of the phototactic behavior in Halobacterium salinarium. I introduced proton pump bacteriorhodopsin in the mutant halobacteria void of all retinal proteins and showed that the proton generator can excite the signal transduction chain restoring phototactic behavior in this organism. Careful quantitative measurements were done using the motion analysis computer system with my German colleagues.

At the same time I studied modern methods of genetic engineering including PCR, Northern and Southern blot analysis, sequencing and site-specific mutagenesis using various protocols which were new at that moment. After demonstrating the presence of the DY receptor in halobacteria I was inclined to search for the receptor responsible for this important function. Chemotaxis genes usually form clusters in the genome and I sequenced approximately 10kB downstream of the sensory opsin gene participating in the Halobacterium genome project still in progress in this Lab. The result was the discovery of the new open-reading frame and isolation of a new protein, which belongs to the AAA family of proteases and was new for archaebacteria. This protein we called CdcH and its sequence is in the Genebank (accession number X79560). The gene knockout was lethal and we concentrated on possible involvement of this protein in the tyrosine phosphorylation as most eucaryotic analogs resembling cdcH are phosphorylated on the C-terminal tyrosine. Though tyrosine phosphorylation was recently reported in archaebacteria (J.Bacteriol. 179(7), 2418-2420) our results were clearly negative. While searching for the function of the protein I developed immunoprecipitation protocol for halobacterial proteins and studied various methods of fluorescent analysis of the Western blots as well as streptavidin system. I reported these data at several conferences (see below). The origin of the tyrosine phosphorylation regulation is still a mystery and I believe that study of the members of the AAA family may give a clue on how the signal transduction turned in the process of evolution from histidine kinases to Tyr and Ser/Thr phosphorylation cascades.

1995 - present POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATE

I decided to switch to the well-studied genetic system to search for the gene responsible for aerotaxis and general energy levels and at the same time study new technique in the Prof. J.S.Parkinson Laboratory in Utah. While our studies on the structure of the MCP proteins we came across the new open reading frame identified through the E.coli genome project. The N-terminal part of this protein bears high level of homology to known oxygen sensors, and we identified this protein as an aerotactic sensor Aer. After 100 years since Engelmann discovered the aerotaxis of bacteria the nature of its receptor is no longer a mystery. Aer protein turned out to be a member of a large structural superfamily of proteins with PAS domains. I continue to study this protein using various techniques. We have shown that the protein binds FAD and using mutagenesis and PCR identified parts involved in binding and signaling. We have recently started collaboration with Brian Crane (Caltech) trying to crystallize the protein or its fragments. I am going to use my experience obtained while studying halobacterial signal transduction system to understand how it works.

Methods of study include HPLC, column chromatography and TLC, UV-VIS and fluorescent spectroscopy, mass-spectrometry and advanced prokaryotic genetics. I also self-studied object-oriented programming in C++ and image capturing.

1987 - 1991 Referent of the All-Union Institute of Scientific and Technological Information (VINITI), Moscow, USSR

Translation and abstract preparation of the latest advances in microbiology in the world for VINITI periodicals

1985 - 1987 Junior researcher, A.N.Belozersky Laboratory of Physico-Chemical Biology, Moscow State University, Russia
1987 - 1999 Scientific researcher, A.N.Belozersky Laboratory of Physico-Chemical Biology, Moscow State University, Russia

AWARDS:

1982-1985 Honor Stipend for Graduate Student (USSR)

1991-1994 Max-Planck Society Stipend (Germany)

1997 - American Society of Microbiology Journal Highlights (ASM news, v 63, No.9, p.488)

AFFILIATIONS:

1984 - 1991 All-Union Biochemical Society (USSR)

1998 - present American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

PUBLICATIONS:


Bibikov,S.I., Baryshev, V.A., and Glagolev, A.N. (1982) Role of the Dm_H⁺ - dependent methylation of proteins in the regulation of motile behavior of H.halobium. FEBS Letters, 146(2), 255-258.

Dibrova, E.Kh., Glagoleva, T.N., Bibikov, S.I., and Glagolev, A.N. (1985) Role of chloroplasts in the motile behavior and phototaxis of diatoms. Dokl. Akad. Nauk. SSSR, 280(5), 1264-1267 (In Russian).

Dibrova, E.Kh., Bibikov, S.I., Glagoleva, T.N., and Glagolev, A.N. (1985) The bacterial-type taxis and protein methylation in diatoms. FEMS.Lett., 26, 295-299.

Gabai, V.L., Omirbekova, N.Gh., Bibikov, S.I., and Glagolev, A.N. (1986) Methylation of proteins and Ca²⁺ -transport in photophobic reaction of cyanobacteria Phormidium uncinatum., Mikrobiologija, 55(1), 15-19. (In Russian).

Bibikov, S.I., and Skulachev, V.P. (1987) Two mechanisms of attractant action of light on Halobacteria: reception of membrane potential and specific photoreception. Biologicheskije membrany, 4(3), 330-332. (In Russian).

Bibikov, S.I., (1988) Light reception in Halobacteria. In: Archaebacteria (ed. Zavarzin, G.A.) Putschino-na-Oke, 110-117. (In Russian).

Bibikov, S.I., and Skulachev, V.P. (1989) Mechanisms of phototaxis and aerotaxis in Halobacterium halobium. FEBS Letters. 243(2), 303-306.

Bibikov, S.I., Grishanin, R.N., Marwan, W., Oesterhelt, D., and Skulachev, V.P. (1991) The proton pump bacteriorhodopsin is a photoreceptor for signal transduction in Halobacterium halobium. FEBS Letters. 295, 223-226.

Bibikov, S.I., Grishanin, R.N., Kaulen, A.D., Marwan, W., Oesterhelt, D., and Skulachev, V.P. (1992) Role of the bacteriorhodopsin in photoreception in Halobacterium halobium. Bioorganicheskaja himija., 18 (10-11), 1403-1422. (In Russian).

Bibikov, S.I., Grishanin, R.N., Kaulen, A.D., Marwan, W., Oesterhelt, D., and Skulachev, V.P. (1992) Direct evidence for the involvement of membrane potential changes in the photosensory transduction of halobacteria. In: Structures and Functions of Retinal Proteins (J.-L. Rigaud, ed.) Colloque INSERM/ John Libbey Eurotext Ltd., 221, 333-336.

Bibikov, S.I., Grishanin, R.N., Kaulen, A.D., Marwan, W., Oesterhelt, D., and Skulachev, V.P. (1993) Bacteriorhodopsin is involved in halobacterial photoreception. Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.U.S.A., 90, 9446-9450.

Bibikov, S.I., Bloch, D.A., Cherepanov, D.A., Oesterhelt, D., and A.Yu. Semenov. (1994) Flash-induced electrogenic reactions in the SA (L223) reaction center mutant in Rhodobacter sphaeroides chromatophores. FEBS Letters., 341, 10-14.

Marwan, W., Bibikov, S.I., Montrone, M. and Oesterhelt, D. (1995) Mechanism of photosensory adaptation in Halobacterium salinarium. J.Mol.Biol. 246, 493 - 499.

Grishanin, R.N., Bibikov, S.I., Altschuler, I.M., Kaulen, A.D., Kazimirchuk, S.B., Armitage, J. and V.P. Skulachev (1996) DY-mediated signalling in the bacteriorhodopsin-dependent photoresponse. J.Bacteriol. 178(11), 3008-3014.

Grishanin, R.N., and Bibikov, S.I. (1997) Mechanisms of oxygen taxis in bacteria. Bioscience Reports, 17(1), 77 - 83.

Bibikov, S.I., Biran, R., Rudd, K.E., and Parkinson, J.S. (1997) A signal transducer for aerotaxis in Escherichia coli. J.Bacteriol. 179(12), 4075-4079.

Bibikov, S.I., Barnes, L., Gitin, Y., and Parkinson, J.S. (2000) Domain organization and FAD-binding determinants in the aerotaxis signal transducer Aer of Escherichia coli. Proc. Natl Acad.Sci. USA, accepted in February, in press.

Miller, A.C., Bibikov, S.I., and Parkinson, J.S. (2000) Aerosensor Aer of Escherichia coli is not modified posttranslationally, J.Bacteriol. in preparation.

ABSTRACTS and PRESENTATIONS:

Bibikov, S.I., .(1982) Role of the Dm_H⁺ - dependent methylation of proteins in regulation of motile behavior in H.halobium. Transactions of the All-Union Inter-University Conference on Physico-Chemical Biology, Tbilisi, Georgia, USSR, 54-55 (In Russian). (poster)

Gabai, V.L., Dibrova, E.Kh., and Bibikov, S.I. (1984) Participation of methyl-accepting taxis proteins in phototaxis of cyanobacteria and diatoms. Abstracts of the 16^th FEBS Conference, Moscow,USSR. (oral presentation)

Bibikov, S.I. (1987) All-Union Biochemical Congress. Kiev, Ukraine (poster)

Bibikov, S.I. (1990) Gordon research conference on Signal Transduction in Bacteria and Lower Eucaryotes, Oxnard, California, USA (poster)

Bibikov, S.I., and Grishanin, R.N. (1991) Evidence for the direct involvement of bacteriorhodopsin in the photoreception in halobacteria. Abstracts of the 13^th Edmond de Rothschild School on Bacterial Chemotaxis. Dead Sea - Eilat, Israel, p.58. (oral presentation)

Bibikov, S.I., Grishanin, R.N., Kaulen, A.D., Marwan, W., Oesterhelt, D., and Skulachev, V.P. (1992) Abstracts of the 5^th International Conference on Retinal Proteins, Dourdan, Paris, France, p.28. (oral presentation as invited speaker)

Bibikov, S.I. (1993) Bacterial Locomotion and Signal Transduction Conference (BLAST), Austin, Texas, USA (oral presentation)

Bibikov, S.I. (1994) Structure and Function of Retinal Proteins Conference. Leiden, Netherlands, (poster)

Bibikov, S.I. and Oesterhelt, D. (1994) Jacques Monod Conference on "Protein phosphorylation: from structure to function", Aussois, France (oral presentation)

Bibikov, S.I. (1995) Bacterial Locomotion and Signal Transduction Conference (BLAST), Austin, Texas, USA (poster)

Bibikov, S.I. (1996) First Conference on the AAA Family proteins, Paris, France (oral presentation as an invited speaker)

Bibikov, S.I. (1997) Bacterial Locomotion and Signal Transduction Conference (BLAST) , Cuernavaca, Mexico (oral presentation)

Bibikov, S.I. (1998) Signal Transduction in Microorganisms Gordon Conference (STIM) , Ventura, California (poster)

Bibikov, S.I. (1999) Bacterial Locomotion and Signal Transduction Conference (BLAST) , Cuernavaca, Mexico (poster)

Bibikov, S.I. (2000) Signal Transduction in Microorganisms Gordon Conference (STIM) , Ventura, California (oral presentation)

E-mail to Sergei Bibikov: bibikov@biology.utah.edu