Göttinger Graduiertenzentrum für Neurowissenschaften, Biophysik und Molekulare Biowissenschaften

Valerius, Oliver, Dr.*

Research Group Leader at the Institute of Microbiology & Genetics


  • Since 2011: leader of the research group ‘Translational Control in S. cerevisiae’
  • 2004: Founder Member of the Goettingen Proteomics Forum (GPF)
  • Since 2003 Mass Spectrometry/Proteomics, Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August-University, Göttingen (Germany)
  • 2001 – 2003 Postdoc, Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August-University, Göttingen (Germany)
  • 2001 Dr. rer. Nat., Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August-University, Göttingen (Germany)



Major Research Interests

Spatial and temporal translation of mRNAs into polypeptides has to be tightly regulated according to developmental growth stages of cells and to environmental signals. Especially the biosynthesis of transcription factors (TFs) has to be tightly adjusted to cellular needs and balanced with TF turnover. Many translation factors and ribosomal proteins are phosphorylated. By far the most of the phosphosites were found in genome-wide mass spectrometry approaches without further in-depth analyses of their individual function or corresponding kinases/signals. - We ask: Do specific phosphorylation patterns of translation factors and ribosomal proteins correlate with or even account for the required translation rates of TF-encoding mRNAs? - The WD-repeat protein Asc1 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as well as its orthologous protein RACK1 in higher eukaryotes locates to the head of the small ribosomal subunit, has a rigid seven-bladed ß-propeller structure, and is essential for developmental processes. Being a phosphoprotein itself it exerts downstream impact on translation factor phosphorylation. A putative function of Asc1 is to recruit kinases to the process of translation. In order to investigate Asc1/RACK1’s putative role as a mediator of TF-mRNA translation we analyze its impact on phosphorylation of translation factors and ribosomal proteins, and on abundances of transcription factors.



Homepage Department/Research Group

http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/430947.html



Selected Recent Publications


  • Rachfall N, Schmitt K, Bandau S, Smolinski N, Ehrenreich A, Valerius O*, Braus GH* (2013). RACK1/Asc1p, a Ribosomal Node in Cellular Signaling. Mol Cell Proteomics 12.1, 87-105. * corresponding authors
  • Rachfall N, Heinemeyer I, Morgenstern B, Valerius O*, Braus GH* (2011). 5’TRU: Identification and analysis of translationally regulative 5’untranslated region in amino acid starved yeast cells. Mol Cell Proteomics 10.6. * corresponding authors
  • Guo J, Wang S, Valerius O, Hall H, Zeng Q, Li JF, Weston DJ, Elli BE, Chen JG (2011). Involvement of Arabidopsis RACK1 in protein translation and its regulation by abscisic acid. Plant Physiol 155, 370-383.
  • Bayram O, Krappmann S, Ni M, Bok JW, Helmstaedt K, Valerius O, Braus-Stromeyer S, Kwon NJ, Keller NP, Yu JH, Braus GH (2008). VelB/VeA/LaeA complex coordinates light signal with fungal development and secondary metabolism. Science 320, 1504-1506.
  • Valerius O, Kleinschmidt M, Rachfall N, Schulze, F., Lopez Marin, S., Hoppert, M., Streckfuss-Bömeke, K., Fischer, C., Braus, G.H. (2007). The Saccharomyces homolog of mammalian RACK1, Cpc2/Asc1p, is required for FLO11-dependent adhesive growth and dimorphism. Mol Cell Proteomics 6, 1968-1979.