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Professor Geoff McFadden

Position

Professor
NHMRC Principal ARC Federation Fellow
Howard Hughes International Scholar

Address

Botany School,
University of Melbourne
VIC 3010, Australia
T   +61 (0)414 189 905
E   gim@unimelb.edu.au

Research interests

  • endosymbiosis,
  • molecular evolution,
  • malaria cell biology,
  • antimalarials,
  • plastids,
  • mitochondria,
  • protein targeting

Qualifications

PhD 1984

Selected Publications

MCFADDEN GI, Schulze D, Surek B, Salisbury JL, & Melkonian M (1987) Basal body reorientation mediated by Ca++-modulated contractile protein. J. Cell Biol. 105: 903-912 [c103][if 11.6]

First identified role for centrin protein, a core protein in centrioles/centrosomes, which are keystone structures in the eukaryotic cell.

McFADDEN GI, Gilson PR, Hofmann CJB, Adcock GJ, and Maier U-G (1994) Evidence that an amoeba acquired a chloroplast by retaining part of an engulfed eukaryotic alga. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 91:3690-3694. [c66][if 10.4]

First molecular examination of what has become an important model for secondary endosymbiotic acquisition of plastids.

Gilson, PR, and McFADDEN GI (1996) The miniaturized nuclear genome of a eukaryotic endosymbiont contains genes that overlap, genes that are cotranscribed, and the smallest known spliceosomal introns. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 93:7737-7742. [c64][if 10.4]

First sequence data from the endosymbiont nucleus in this important model for secondary endosymbiotic acquisition of plastids.

McFADDEN, GI, Reith ME, Munholland J, and Lang-Unnasch N (1996) Plastid in human parasites. Nature 381:482. [c139][if 30.9]

First paper to identify the relict plastid of malaria parasites. Proposed herbicides as potential antimalarials.

Waller RF, Keeling PJ, Donald RGK, Striepen B, Handman E, N Lang-Unnasch N, Cowman AF, Besra GS, Roos DS, and McFADDEN GI (1998) Nuclear-encoded proteins target to the plastid in Toxoplasma gondii and Plasmodium falciparum. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 95:12352-12357. [c250][if 10.4]

First identification of targeting of nuclear encoded gene products to the relict plastid of human parasites. Fatty acid biosynthesis first identified function of the relict plastid. New drug discovered that targets fatty acid biosynthesis. First new drug to emerge from the malaria genome project. Most cited apicoplast paper.

Beech, PL, Nheu T, Schultz T, Herbert S, Lithgow T, Gilson PR, and McFADDEN GI (2000) Mitochondrial FtsZ in a chromophyte alga. Science 287:1276-1279. [c86][if 29.7]

First proof that mitochondria utilise bacterial division machinery to divide. Demonstrated that division of human and yeast mitochondria is highly derived process.

Waller RF, Reed MB, Cowman AF, and McFADDEN GI (2000) Protein trafficking to the plastid of Plasmodium falciparum is via the secretory pathway. Embo J. 19:1794-802.[c132][if 10.5]

First characterisation of the two-step mode of protein targeting to the relict plastid of malaria parasites. First use of GFP in malaria parasite.

Gardner, M J, N Hall, E Fung, O White, M Berriman, R W Hyman, J M Carlton, A Pain, K E Nelson, S Bowman, I T Paulsen, K James, J A Eisen, K Rutherford, S L Salzberg, A Craig, S Kyes, M S Chan, V Nene, S J Shallom, B Suh, J Peterson, S Angiuoli, M Pertea, J Allen, J Selengut, D Haft, M W Mather, A B Vaidya, D M Martin, A H Fairlamb, M J Fraunholz, D S Roos, S A Ralph, G I McFADDEN, L M Cummings, G M Subramanian, C Mungall, J C Venter, D J Carucci, S L Hoffman, C Newbold, R W Davis, C M Fraser, and B Barrell (2002) Genome sequence of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Nature 419:498-511. [c597][if 30.9]

Landmark paper in malaria research. My lab comprises two of 45 authors but we had two sentences in the abstract, a figure and were responsible for annotating 500 of the 5,600 genes.

Foth, BJ, Ralph SA, Tonkin CJ, Struck NS, Fraunholz M, Roos DS, Cowman AF, and McFADDEN GI (2003) Dissecting apicoplast targeting in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Science 299:705-8. [c65][if 29.7]

First combination of bioinformatics and strategic in vivo point mutagenesis to examine how leader sequences target proteins to the relict plastid of malaria parasite. Featured in textbook Discovering Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics 2nd ed. (Campbell AM and Heyer LJ 2006)

Mullin KA, Lim L, Ralph SA, Spurck TP, Handman E, McFadden GI. Membrane transporters in the relict plastid of malaria parasites. Proc Natl Acad Sci U.S.A. 2006;103(25):9572-7.