rwolfe@life.illinois.edu
Office: (217) 333-0065
Mail to: B103 CLSL, MC-110
601 S. Goodwin Ave.
Urbana, IL 61801
Ralph S Wolfe
Professor of Microbiology, Emeritus
Research Topics
Archaea, Enzymology, Microbial Physiology
Education
B.A., Bridgewater College, 1942
M.S. (Bacteriology), University of Pennsylvania, 1949
Ph.D. (Bacteriology), University of Pennsylvania, 1953
Professor Emeritus, 1991
Biochemistry of methanogens
I continue to have a keen interest in research on the methanoarchaea, their physiology and biochemistry. Other lab-bench interests, which I consider to be "microbial hobbies," include: magnetotactic bacteria, Beggiatoa, Gallionella as well as microbial consortia of various kinds.
Representative Publications
Wolfe, R.S. "Techniques for Cultivating Methanogens." Methods in Enzymology, Volume 494. ISSN 0076-6879, DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-385112-3.00001-9.
Wolfe R.S., Metcalf, W.W. 2010. A vacuum-vortex technique for preparation of anoxic solutions or liquid culture media in small volumes for cultivating methanogens or other strict anaerobes. Anaerobe, 16(3): 216-9. Epub 2009 Dec 23.
Mukhopadhyay, B., Purwantini, E., Kreder, C.L., and Wolfe, R.S. 2001. Oxaloacetate synthesis in the methanarchaeon Methanosarcina barkeri: pyruvate carboxylase genes and a putative Escherichia coli-type bifunctional biotin protein ligase gene (bpl/birA) exhibit a unique organization. J. Bacteriol, 183: 3804–10. [Abstract]
Mukhopadhyay, B., Concar, E.M., and Wolfe, R.S. 2001. A GTP-dependent vertebrate-type phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase from Mycobacterium smegmatis. J. Biol. Chem., 276: 16137–45. [Abstract]
Mukhopadhyay, B., Johnson, E.F., and Wolfe, R.S. 2000. A novel pH2 control on the expression of flagella in the hyperthermophilic strictly hydrogenotrophic methanarchaeaon Methanococcus jannaschii. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97: 11522–27. [Abstract]
Metcalf, W.W. and Wolfe, R.S. 1998. Molecular genetic analysis of phosphate and hypophosphite oxidation by Pseudomonas stutzeri WM88. J Bacteriol, 180(21):5547–58. [Abstract]
Woo, G.J., Wasserfallen, A., and Wolfe, R. S. 1993. Methyl viologen hydrogenase II, a new member of the hydrogenase family from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum delta H. J Bacteriol, 175(18):5970–7. [Abstract]
Wolfe, R.S. 1991. My kind of biology. Annu. Rev. Microbiol, 45: 1–35. [Abstract]