Barbara Baker (molecular biologist)

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Barbara Joan Baker
Alma materUniversity of California, San Francisco
AwardsMember of the National Academy of Sciences (2021)[1]
Scientific career
InstitutionsPlant Gene Expression Center, USDA Agricultural Research Service and University of California, Berkeley
ThesisAnalysis of endogenous avian retrovirus DNA and RNA: viral and cellular determinants of retrovirus gene expression (1981)
Websitebakerlab.berkeley.edu/bbaker

Barbara Baker is an American plant molecular geneticist working at the University of California, Berkeley and the United States Department of Agriculture She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2021.[1]

Education and career[edit]

Baker graduated from Los Alamitos High School in 1970[2] and completed her undergraduate studies at UC San Diego in 1974. She went on to earn her PhD at UC San Francisco with J. Michael Bishop and Harold E. Varmus in 1981, and did postdoctoral research in Germany.[2][3] As of 2021, Baker is an adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley and a senior scientist at the United States Department of Agriculture.[4]

Research[edit]

Baker is a plant geneticist working on plant innate immunity, the mechanism by which plants protect themself from diseases.[5] Baker's research includes cloning the N gene for resistance to Tobacco mosaic virus,[6][7] which was one of the first plant disease resistance genes cloned.[8] She is also known for her research on R-genes and their role as a defense system against plant pathogens.[9][10] Baker has also examined the genetic conditions behind the susceptibility to disease in tomatoes,[11] potatoes,[12] and the flowering plants in the genus Solanum.[13]

Selected publications[edit]

  • Baker, Barbara; Schell, Jeff; Lörz, Horst; Fedoroff, Nina (1986-07-01). "Transposition of the maize controlling element "Activator" in tobacco". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 83 (13): 4844–4848. Bibcode:1986PNAS...83.4844B. doi:10.1073/pnas.83.13.4844. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 323839. PMID 16593722.
  • Whitham, Steve; Dinesh-Kumar, S.P.; Choi, Doil; Hehl, Reinhard; Corr, Catherine; Baker, Barbara (1994). "The product of the tobacco mosaic virus resistance gene N: Similarity to toll and the interleukin-1 receptor". Cell. 78 (6): 1101–1115. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(94)90283-6. ISSN 0092-8674. PMID 7923359. S2CID 41173100.
  • Baker, Barbara; Zambryski, Patricia; Staskawicz, Brian; Dinesh-Kumar, S. P. (1997-05-02). "Signaling in Plant-Microbe Interactions". Science. 276 (5313): 726–733. doi:10.1126/science.276.5313.726. PMID 9115193.
  • Whitham, S.; McCormick, S.; Baker, B. (1996-08-06). "The N gene of tobacco confers resistance to tobacco mosaic virus in transgenic tomato". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 93 (16): 8776–8781. Bibcode:1996PNAS...93.8776W. doi:10.1073/pnas.93.16.8776. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 38750. PMID 8710948.

Awards[edit]

  • Elected member, National Academy of Sciences (2021)[14]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "News from the National Academy of Sciences - National Academy of Sciences Elects New Members — Including a Record Number of Women — and International Members". National Academy of Sciences. April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Young, David N. (2021-05-06). "Barbara Baker, Ph.D., a Los Al graduate, elected to National Academy of Sciences". Retrieved 2021-06-12.
  3. ^ "BBaker | PGEC USDA". pgec.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
  4. ^ Young, David N. (2021-05-06). "Barbara Baker, Ph.D., a Los Al graduate, elected to National Academy of Sciences". event-newsenterprise.com. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
  5. ^ Baker, Barbara; Zambryski, Patricia; Staskawicz, Brian; Dinesh-Kumar, S. P. (1997-05-02). "Signaling in Plant-Microbe Interactions". Science. 276 (5313): 726–733. doi:10.1126/science.276.5313.726. PMID 9115193.
  6. ^ Whitham, Steve; Dinesh-Kumar, S. P.; Choi, Doil; Hehl, Reinhard; Corr, Catherine; Baker, Barbara (1994-09-23). "The product of the tobacco mosaic virus resistance gene N: Similarity to toll and the interleukin-1 receptor". Cell. 78 (6): 1101–1115. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(94)90283-6. ISSN 0092-8674. PMID 7923359. S2CID 41173100. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  7. ^ Whitham, S.; McCormick, S.; Baker, B. (1996-08-06). "The N gene of tobacco confers resistance to tobacco mosaic virus in transgenic tomato". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 93 (16): 8776–8781. Bibcode:1996PNAS...93.8776W. doi:10.1073/pnas.93.16.8776. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 38750. PMID 8710948.
  8. ^ Staskawicz, B. J.; Ausubel, F. M.; Baker, B. J.; Ellis, J. G.; Jones, J. D. (1995-05-05). "Molecular genetics of plant disease resistance". Science. 268 (5211): 661–667. Bibcode:1995Sci...268..661S. doi:10.1126/science.7732374. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 7732374. S2CID 6154978. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  9. ^ Kuang, Hanhui; Wei, Fusheng; Marano, María Rosa; Wirtz, Uwe; Wang, Xiaoxue; Liu, Jia; Shum, Wai Pun; Zaborsky, Jennifer; Tallon, Luke J.; Rensink, Willem; Lobst, Stacey (2005). "The R1 resistance gene cluster contains three groups of independently evolving, type I R1 homologues and shows substantial structural variation among haplotypes of Solanum demissum". The Plant Journal. 44 (1): 37–51. doi:10.1111/j.1365-313X.2005.02506.x. ISSN 1365-313X. PMID 16167894.
  10. ^ Hu, Gongshe; DeHart, Amy K. A.; Li, Yansu; Ustach, Carolyn; Handley, Vanessa; Navarre, Roy; Hwang, Chin-Feng; Aegerter, Brenna J.; Williamson, Valerie M.; Baker, Barbara (2005). "EDS1 in tomato is required for resistance mediated by TIR-class R genes and the receptor-like R gene Ve". The Plant Journal. 42 (3): 376–391. doi:10.1111/j.1365-313X.2005.02380.x. ISSN 1365-313X. PMID 15842623.
  11. ^ Schornack, Sebastian; Ballvora, Agim; Gürlebeck, Doreen; Peart, Jack; Ganal, Martin; Baker, Barbara; Bonas, Ulla; Lahaye, Thomas (2004). "The tomato resistance protein Bs4 is a predicted non-nuclear TIR-NB-LRR protein that mediates defense responses to severely truncated derivatives of AvrBs4 and overexpressed AvrBs3". The Plant Journal. 37 (1): 46–60. doi:10.1046/j.1365-313X.2003.01937.x. ISSN 1365-313X. PMID 14675431.
  12. ^ Huang, Sanwen; Vossen, Edwin A. G. Van Der; Kuang, Hanhui; Vleeshouwers, Vivianne G. A. A.; Zhang, Ningwen; Borm, Theo J. A.; Eck, Herman J. Van; Baker, Barbara; Jacobsen, Evert; Visser, Richard G. F. (2005). "Comparative genomics enabled the isolation of the R3a late blight resistance gene in potato". The Plant Journal. 42 (2): 251–261. doi:10.1111/j.1365-313X.2005.02365.x. ISSN 1365-313X. PMID 15807786.
  13. ^ Brigneti, Gianinna; Martín-Hernández, Ana M.; Jin, Hailing; Chen, Judy; Baulcombe, David C.; Baker, Barbara; Jones, Jonathan D. G. (2004). "Virus-induced gene silencing in Solanum species". The Plant Journal. 39 (2): 264–272. doi:10.1111/j.1365-313X.2004.02122.x. ISSN 1365-313X. PMID 15225290.
  14. ^ "ARS Plant Molecular Geneticist Barbara Baker Elected to National Academy of Sciences : USDA ARS". www.ars.usda.gov. April 29, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29. Retrieved 2021-10-02.

External links[edit]