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David Oliver
Professor and Interim Vice President of Research and Economic Development for ISU

Dr. Oliver, Professor and Interim Vice President of Research and Economic Development, holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Syracuse University (1971, 1973) and a Ph.D. from Cornell University (1975). A faculty member at Iowa State since 1996, Oliver is the former chair of the Department of Botany. Prior to coming to Iowa State, he was on the faculty at the University of Idaho from 1979 to 1996, where he was a Co-PI on the NSF-EPSCoR program and the associate director of the Institute for Molecular and Agricultural Genetic Engineering. Oliver earlier worked as an agricultural scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, Conn. and was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow. He has been a visiting professor in 1988-89 in Grenoble, France, and from 2000-01 at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia.

In 2003, Dr. Oliver became Associate Dean for Research in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS). Then, in 2011 he was named Interim Dean in LAS until a new Dean was selected in 2012, after which he returned to his role as Associate Dean for Research in LAS. In January 2013, he became the Interim Vice President of Research and Economic Development for ISU.

Research Description

My research focuses on plant metabolism and how plants restructure their metabolism in response to environmental and developmental changes. Most recently work by my group has focused on: 1. The synthesis and degradation glutathione (GSH) and how they respond to stress. 2. Acetyl CoA synthesis in the plastid and metabolic fate. 3. New components in the TGA factor/as-1 element signal transduction pathway. 4. Phytoremediation of explosives and heavy metals.

Contact Information

453 Bessey Hall
Ames, IA 50011-1020
515-294-0134 voice
515-294-1337 fax

Web Site

http://www.las.iastate.edu/faculty_staff/bios/d_oliver.shtml

Education

B.S., SUNY, Syracuse, 1971
M.S., SUNY, Syracuse, 1973
Ph.D., Cornell University, 1975

Publications

• Lei, Z.-Y., Zhao, P., Cao, M.-J., Cui, R., Chen, X., Xiong, L.-Z., Zhang, O.-F., Oliver, D.J., and Xiang, C. 2007. High-throughput Binary Vectors for Plant Gene Function Analysis. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology In press.
• Ni, W., Lei, Z., Chen, X., Oliver, D.J., and Xiang, C. 2007. Construction of a Plant Transformation-ready Expression cDNA Library for Mining Salt Tolerance Genes from Thellungiella halophila Using a Restriction Endonuclease- and DNA Ligase-free Approach. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology In press.
• Ohkama-Ohtsu, N., Zhao, P., Xiang, C., and Oliver, D.J. 2007. Glutathione-Conjugates in the Vacuole Are Degraded by γ-Glutamyl Transpeptidase GGT3 in Arabidopsis. The Plant Journal In press.
• Ohkama-Ohtsu, N., Radwan, S., Peterson, A., Zhao, P., Fattah Badr, A, Xiang, C., and Oliver, D.J. 2007. . Characterization of the Extracellular γ-Glutamyl Transpeptidases, GGT1 and GGT2, in Arabidopsis. The Plant Journal In press.
• Yoon, J.M., Oliver, D.J., and Shanks, J.V. 2007. Phytotransformation of 2,4-Dinitrotoluene in Arabidopsis thaliana: Toxicity, Fate, and Gene Expression Studies. Biotechnology Progress In press.
• Peterson, A.G. and Oliver D.J. 2006. Leaf-targeted phytochelatin synthase in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 44:885-892.
• Devi, Rama S., Chen X., Xiang, C., and Oliver, D.J. 2006. A Novel High-throughput Genetic Screen for Stress-Responsive Mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana Revealed New Loci Involving Stress Responses. Plant Journal 47:652-663.
• Shulaev, V. and Oliver, D.J. 2006. Metabolic and proteomic markers for oxidative stress: new tools for ROS research. Plant Physiology 141:367-372.
• Subramanian, M., Oliver, D.J., and Shanks, J.V. 2006. TNT Phytotransformation Pathway Characteristics in Arabidopsis: Role of Aromatic Hydroxylamines. Biotech. Progress 22:208-216.
• Davletova, S., Rizhsky, L., Liang, H., Shengqiang, Z., Oliver, D.J., Coutu, J., Shulaev, V., Schlauch, K., and Mittler R. 2005. "Cross-Compartment Protection” by Cytosolic Ascorbate Peroxidase 1 (APX1) During Light Stress in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell 17:268.
• Rollo, S., Moon, H., Subramanian, M., Oliver, D.J., Shanks, J.V. 2004. Phytoremediation of RDX: Using Arabidopsis thaliana to Determine the Genetics and Biochemistry of the Transformation Pathway. Proc. AIChE Annual Meeting, Austin, TX Paper 285e.
• Moon, H., Subramanian, M., Rollo, S., Oliver, D.J. , Shanks, J.V. 2004. Use of Arabidopsis as a Model System for Genetic and Biochemical Studies of TNT Transformation in Plants. Proc. First Conference on Sustainable Range Management, B. Alleman and S. Downes (Eds), New Orleans, LA Paper C3-04.
• Oliver, D. J. and Gardeström. 2004. P. Photorespiration: Photosynthesis in the Mitochondria. In Plant Mitochondria: From Genome to Function by D.A. Day, H. Millar, and J. Whelan (eds). Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands :293-306.
• Lin, M. Behal, R.H., and Oliver, D.J. 2004. Disruption of plE2, the Gene for the E2 Subunit of the Plastid Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex, in Arabidopsis Causes an Early Embryo Lethal Phenotype. Plant Molecular Biology 52:865-872.
• Lin, M., Behal, R.H., and Oliver, D.J. 2004. Characterization of a Mutation in the IDH-II Subunit of the NAD+-Dependent Isocitrate Dehydrogenase from Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Science 166:983-988.
• Oliver, D.J., Nikolau, B., and Wurtele, E. 2002. Functional Genomics: High throughput mRNA, protein, and metabolite analyses. Metabolic Engineering 4:98-106.
• Behal, R.H., Lin, M., Back, S., and Oliver, D.J. 2002. Role of Acetyl CoA Synthetase in Leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 404:259-267.
• Abbaraju, H.R. and Oliver, D.J.. 2002. Identification of an Unusual Myb-type Transcription Factor that Controls the Light-Dependent Expression of the H-Protein of Glycine Decarboxylase. Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology (in press).
• Porubleva, L., Vander Velden, K., Kothari, S., Oliver, D.J., and Chitnis, P.R. 2001. The Proteome of Maize Leaves: Use of Gene Sequences and EST Data for Identification of Proteins with Peptide Mass Fingerprints. Electrophoresis 22:1724-1738.
• Lutziger, I. and Oliver, D.J. 2001. Characterization of Two cDNAs Encoding Mitochondrial Lipoamide Dehydrogenase from Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiology 127:615-623.