Wolf-Dietrich Heyer
Professor
wdheyer@ucdavis.edu

Microbiology

Office
3251 Life Sciences Addition
Tel. 752-3001


Picture of Wolf-Dietrich Heyer
 
Degrees:
1995 Habilitation University of Bern (Switzerland) Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
1985 PhD University of Bern. Switzerland Biology
1982 Diploma Free University of Berlin (Germany) Biology
Research Interests:
Mechanism and regulation of recombinational DNA repair
Double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs) are among the most genotoxic lesions and can be generated by ionizing radiation, drugs, or cellular processes. In eukaryotes, several pathways compete for the repair of such lesions. Homologous recombination is the critical DSB repair pathway in yeasts and an important DSB repair pathway in all eukaryotes studied. We are using primarily Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system and employ genetical, molecular, and biochemical methods to elucidate the molecular mechanism of homologous recombination and recombinational DNA repair and its regulation by the DNA damage checkpoints.
http://micro.ucdavis.edu/heyer/

Awards:
1989 Richard A. Smith Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, USA)
1995 Eduard-Adolf-Stein Award for the best Habilitation at the Philosophical-Natural Sciences Faculty of the University of Bern (CH) 1990-1995
1997 Theodor-Kocher Price for the best "Young Researcher at the University of Bern 1997"
2000 Chancellor's Fellow 2000-2005, University of California, Davis
2002 , 2009 Outstanding Teaching Award, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Graduate Students
Department and Center Affiliations:

 Department of Microbiology
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
UC Davis Cancer Center
Professional Societies:
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Genetics Society of America
American Society of Microbiology
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Deutscher Hochschulverband
Gesellschaft fuer Biochemie und Molekularbiologie
CBS Graduate Group Affiliations:
Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology  
Genetics  
Graduate Groups not Housed in CBS:
Microbiology  
Publications: Last updated 11/16/2009
  • Li, X. and Heyer, W.-D. (2009) Rad54 controls access to the invading 3'OH end after Rad51-mediated DNA strand invasion in homologous recombination in S. cerevisiae. Nucleic Acids Res. 37, 638-646.
  • Ehmsen, K.T. and Heyer, W.-D. (2009) A junction branch point adjacent to a DNA backbone nick directs substrate cleavage by Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mus81-Mms4. Nucleic Acids Res. 37, 2026-2036.
  • Li, X., Stith, C.M., Burgers, P.M., and Heyer, W.-D. (2009) PCNA is required for initiating recombination-associated DNA synthesis by DNA polymerase δ. Mol. Cell in press.
  • Zhang, X.-P., Galkin, V.E., Yu, X., Egelman, E., and Heyer, W.-D. (2009) Loop 2 of S. cerevisiae Rad51 regulates filament formation and ATPase activity. Nucleic Acids Res. 37, 158-171.
Laboratory Personnel:
Our laboratory is located in LS 3243, LS 3249, LS 3144, LS 3116. My office is LS 3165.
http://micro.ucdavis.edu/heyer/
The members of my group are: Rita Alexeeva, Amy Anderson, Gurwinder Bath, Shannon Ceballos, Dr. Kirk Ehmsen, Dr. Clare Fasching, Ryan Janke, Jim Kingsley, Robert Le, Dr. Jie Liu, Ernest Maningding, Lloyd McCarthy, Dr. Damon Meyer, William Orona, Derya Ozes, Erin Schwartz, Dr. Jessica Sneeden, Kengo Soghoyan, William Wright, Dr. Xiao-Ping Zhang

Teaching Interests:
Yeast physiology and genetics. Molecular genetics. DNA metabolism.
Courses:
BIS 101 Genes and Gene Expression
MCB 221C Molecular Genetics
GGG 201C Molecular Genetics
MIC 275 Seminar in DNA Repair and Recombination
GGG 295 Seminar in Molecular Genetics
MIC 276 Adv Concepts DNA Metab