Dr. Summers is a Reichhold-Shumaker Assistant Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering. He is interested in new research techniques and studies involving engineering of microbial cells. Dr. Summers seeks to develop new tools for microbial engineering, with the goal of expanding the world- wide synthetic biology toolbox. He has advised over 50 undergraduate students and 6 graduate students in his research lab. Dr. Summers works with researchers in biology and chemistry, bringing different disciplines together to improve research through convergence. More information can be found at https://rmsummers.people.ua.edu/.
Representative Publications
- Substrate promiscuity of the NdmCDE N7-demethylase enzyme complex, M. B. Mock, S. Zhang, B. Pniak, N. Belt, M. K. Witherspoon, R. M. Summers. Biotechnol. Notes 2:18-21, 2021.
- Caffeine and theophylline inhibit β-galactosidase activity and reduce expression in Escherichia coli, J. Horne, E. Beddingfield, M. Knapp, S. Mitchell, L. Crawford, S. B. Mills, A. Wrist, S. Zhang, R. M. Summers. ACS Omega 5(50):32250-32255, 2020.
- Draft genome sequence of Pseudomonas sp. strain CES, containing the entire alkylxanthine gene cluster for caffeine breakdown, R. M. Summers, J. Shao, M. B. Mock, C. L. Yu, F. E. Vega. Microbiol. Resour. Announc. 9:e00484-20, 2020.
- The theophylline aptamer: 25 years as an important tool in cellular engineering research, A. Wrist, W. Sun, R. M. Summers. ACS Synth. Biol. 9(4):682-697, 2020.
- Structural and mechanistic insights into caffeine degradation by the bacterial N-demethylase complex, J. H. Kim, B. H. Kim, S. Brooks, S. Y. Kang, R. M. Summers, H. K. Song. J. Mol. Biol. 431(19):3647-3661, 2019
Research Interests
The Summers lab works at the interface of industrial microbiology and biochemical engineering, particularly in the area of microbial engineering for production of biochemicals, fuels, and pharmaceuticals. Specific research interest involve a) engineering bacterial cells for production of high-value methylxanthine biochemicals, b) development of novel tools and methods to engineer bacteria and yeast cells, and c) creation of new aptamers and riboswitches to control gene expression in microbes.
