Ricardo A. Bernal
BIOCHEMISTRY/MACROMOLECULAR CRYSTALLOGRAPHY

Assistant Professor
B.S., Texas A&M University, 1990

M.S. University of Texas at El Paso, 1993
Ph.D., Purdue University, 2002
MRC-LMB Postdoctoral Fellow , 2002-2006

Phone:(915) 747-6918

rbernal@utep.edu
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Bernal Research Group Site

http://utminers.utep.edu/rbernal/index.html

Awards and Activities

Tri-beta Biological Honor Society, 1992

Associate Member of Sigma Xi, 1993

American Society for Microbiology travel award, May 1993.

Biophysics Training Grant Fellowship, Purdue University, 1997-2000.

GAANN Research Fellowship, Purdue University 2000-2002.

MRC Career Development Award Postdoctoral Fellowship 2004-2006.

Research Interests
My research interests are primarily focused on the mechanisms that lead to the efficient and precise assembly of large macromolecular complexes from heterogeneous subunits. Large and complex molecular assemblies are extremely difficult to crystallize, especially if conformational changes are part of its function. By combining cryo-Electron Microscopy (cryo-EM) and X-ray crystallography, many of the limitations of each individual technique can be overcome. By fitting in high-resolution X-ray structures of individual components into a relatively low-resolution cryo-EM reconstruction, we can overcome the resolution limitations of electron microscopy. By utilizing cryo-EM, we can determine the structure of macromolecules that would otherwise never crystallize.

Recently, we have obtained a negative stain EM reconstruction of the Thermus thermophilus ATP Synthase, a cryo-EM reconstruction of a virus encoded chaperonin, and a preliminary reconstruction of the newly discovered bacteriophage SN.

Selected Publications

· Olga Esteban, Ricardo A. Bernal, Mhairi Donohoe, Hortense Videler, Michal Sharon, Carol V. Robinson, and Daniela Stock (2007) Stoichiometry and localisation of the stator subunits E and G in T. thermophilus H+ ATPase/synthase. J. Biol. Chem. November 30, 2007

· Schafer I,Bailer SM,Duser MG,Borsch M, Bernal RA, Stock D, and Gruber G (2006) Crystal Structure of the Archaeal A₁Ao ATP Synthase Subunit B from Methanosarcina mazei Gö1: Implications of Nucleotide-binding Differences in the Major A₁Ao Subunits A & B. J. Mol. Biol. 358, 725-40.

· Makyio H, Iino R, Ikeda C, Imamura H, Tamakoshi M, Iwata M, Stock D, Bernal RA, Carpenter EP, Yoshida M, Yokoyama K,Iwata S. (2005) Structure of a central stalk subunit F of prokaryotic V-type ATPase/synthase from Thermus thermophilus. EMBO J. 16;24(22), 3974-83.

· Bernal, R.A. and Stock,D (2004). The Three Dimensional Structure of the Intact Thermus thermophilus H⁺-ATPase/Synthase by Electron Microscopy. Structure, 12, 1789-1798.

· Bernal, R.A., Hafenstein, S., Esmeralda, R.,Fane, B.A., and Rossmann, M.G. (2004). The phiX174 Protein J Mediates DNA Packaging and Viral Attachment to Host Cells. J. Mol. Biol., 337, 1109-1122. Includes Cover.

· Bernal, R.A., Hafenstein, S.,Olsen, N.H., Bowman, V.D, Chipman, P.R., Baker, T.S., Fane, B.A., and Rossmann, M.G. (2003). Structural Studies of Bacteriophage alpha3 Assembly. J. Mol. Biol., 325, 11-24. Includes Cover.

· Rossmann, M.G., Bernal, R.A., and Pletnev, S. (2001). Combining Electron Microscopic With X-Ray Crystallographic Structures. J. Struct. Biol. 136, 190-200.

· Dokland, T., Bernal, R.A., Burch, A., Pletnev, S., Fane, B., and Rossmann, M.G. (1999). The role of scaffolding proteins in the assembly of the small, single stranded DNA virus phiX174. J. Mol. Biol., 288, 595-608.

· Wojnowski L, Bernal R, Park CM, Handel MA, Hollander WF and Zimmer A. (1998). Reduced activity of BRAF protein kinase in hop and hop(hpy) mouse mutants. Mamm. Genome, 9, 905-906.

· Wojnowski, L., Zimmer, A.M., Beck, T.W., Hahn, H., Bernal, R., Rapp, U.R., and Zimmer, A. (1997). Endothelial apoptosis in B-raf deficient mice. Nature Genetics, 16, 293-297.