Department of Plant Biology
Philipp Zerbe is an Associate Professor in the Plant Biology Department at the University of California-Davis. He received a diploma in Biology and a Ph.D in Plant Physiology from Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany.
During Dr. Zerbe’s training he developed a keen interest in the diversity, evolution and function of plant specialized metabolism. As a graduate student (2004-2007) in Dr. Elmar Weiler's lab at the Ruhr-University Bochum (Germany) he focused on protein structure-function studies of key enzymes involved in plant jasmonate biosynthesis. He then moved to DR. Joerg Bohlmann's lab at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, where he studied the biosynthesis and mechanisms of specialized terpenoid metabolites with functions in the defense of coniferous forest tress against insect pests and fungal pathogens.
In 2014, Dr.Zerbe was recruited as faculty at the University of California-Davis. His research program combines functional genomics, metabolomics and protein biochemical approaches to study the biosynthesis, regulation, and function of terpenoid metabolism in food, bioenergy and medicinal plants with the goal to better understand the role of these metabolites in plant-environment interactions and to develop innovative strategies for crop improvement and bioproduct synthesis. In recognition of his work, Dr. Zerbe received a 2015 Arthur Neish Young Investigator Award and a 2016 Hellman Young Investigator Fellowship.
Enzymes for synthetic biology of ambroxide-related diterpenoid fragrance compounds.
Advances in biochemical engineering/biotechnology , 2015 | Pubmed ID: 25846965
Exploring diterpene metabolism in non-model species: transcriptome-enabled discovery and functional characterization of labda-7,13E-dienyl diphosphate synthase from Grindelia robusta.
The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology Sep, 2015 | Pubmed ID: 26119826
Expanding the Landscape of Diterpene Structural Diversity through Stereochemically Controlled Combinatorial Biosynthesis.
Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) Feb, 2016 | Pubmed ID: 26749264
Substitution of Two Active-Site Residues Alters C9-Hydroxylation in a Class II Diterpene Synthase.
Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology Dec, 2016 | Pubmed ID: 27735121
Biosynthesis of the psychotropic plant diterpene salvinorin A: Discovery and characterization of the Salvia divinorum clerodienyl diphosphate synthase.
The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology Mar, 2017 | Pubmed ID: 27865008
Biosynthesis of the microtubule-destabilizing diterpene pseudolaric acid B from golden larch involves an unusual diterpene synthase.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 01, 2017 | Pubmed ID: 28096378
Biosynthesis of the oxygenated diterpene nezukol in the medicinal plant Isodon rubescens is catalyzed by a pair of diterpene synthases.
PloS one , 2017 | Pubmed ID: 28445526
Discovery, Biosynthesis and Stress-Related Accumulation of Dolabradiene-Derived Defenses in Maize.
Plant physiology 04, 2018 | Pubmed ID: 29475898
Functional Diversity of Diterpene Synthases in the Biofuel Crop Switchgrass.
Plant physiology 09, 2018 | Pubmed ID: 30008447
Diterpene Synthase-Catalyzed Biosynthesis of Distinct Clerodane Stereoisomers.
Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology Jan, 2019 | Pubmed ID: 30393911
Functional characterization of the cytochrome P450 monooxygenase CYP71AU87 indicates a role in marrubiin biosynthesis in the medicinal plant Marrubium vulgare.
BMC plant biology Mar, 2019 | Pubmed ID: 30909879
Multiple genes recruited from hormone pathways partition maize diterpenoid defences.
Nature plants Sep, 2019 | Pubmed ID: 31527844
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