Dr. Cornelius Varnado
Neil is originally from McComb, Mississippi. He received
his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Alcorn State
University
where he was honored as an Alcorn State University Academic
Scholar. In his time with the Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry here at Auburn University,
Neil was awarded as a Southern Regional Education Board Doctoral Fellow
through the Alabama Commission on Higher Education. While in the
Goodwin laboratory, Neil developed a system to assist us in the
expression of our catalase-peroxidases. He
and others have also been able to apply the system to the expression of
other recombinant
hemoproteins. Neil also reported the characterization of a
catalase-peroxidase from E. coli O157:H7. This enzyme is
part of a unique subgroup of catalase-peroxidases that are
distinguished by their periplasmic location. Interestingly, a
significant proportion
of these enzymes are carried by highly virulent bacterial pathogens and
are thought to be virulence factors. His work has also focused on
a unique set of post-translational modifications that occur among the
catalase-peroxidases.
Dr. Varnado completed his stay in the Goodwin laboratory in June
2006. He has gone on to Rice University to do postdoctoral
research with Professor John Olson at Rice University.
Publications and Abstracts
Varnado, C. L., and Goodwin D. C. 2004. Heme- and
peroxide-dependent formation of a novel crosslink in
catalase-peroxidases. Amer. Chem. Soc. Southeast Regional
Meeting, Research Triangle Park, NC.
Varnado, C. L., and Goodwin, D. C. 2004. System for the
expression of recombinant hemoproteins in Escherichia coli. Protein
Expr. Purif. 35, 76 - 83.
Varnado, C. L., Hertwig, K. M., Thomas, R., Roberts, J. K., and
Goodwin, D. C. 2004. Properties of a novel periplasmic
catalase-peroxidase from Escherichia coli O157:H7. Arch.
Biochem. Biophys. 421, 166 - 174.
Goodwin, D. C., Baker, R. D., Varnado, C. L., and Li, Y. 2003.
Structural requirements for the hemoprotein-dependent
decomposition of hydroperoxides: lessons from the
catalase-peroxidases. Amer. Chem. Soc. Southeast
Regional Meeting, Atlanta, GA.
Varnado, C. L., Hertwig, K. M., Thomas, R., Roberts, J. K., and
Goodwin, D. C. 2003. Characterization of a novel
periplasmic catalase-peroxidase. Amer. Chem. Soc. Southeast
Regional Meeting, Atlanta, GA.
Varnado, C. L., Hertwig, K. M., Thomas, R., Roberts, J. K., and
Goodwin, D. C. 2003. Spectral and kinetic properties of a
novel periplasmic catalase-peroxidase. Amer. Chem. Soc. 226th
National Meeting, New York, NY.
Varnado, C. L., and Goodwin, D. C. 2002. Design of an expression
system for recombinant hemoproteins. Amer. Chem. Soc.
Southeast Regional Meeting, Charleston, SC.