Our Faculty

Courses I Teach

• BIOL 1101 - Life on Earth w/ labs
• BIOL 2115 - Determinants of Health and Disease
• BIOL 3127 - Microbiology w/ labs
• BIOL 4160 - Senior Seminar
• BIOL 4194 - Research Internship

Publications + Presentations

• Montero-Diez C, Deighan P, Osmundson J, Darst SA, Hochschild A. (2013) Phage-encoded inhibitor of Staphylococcus aureus transcription exerts context dependent effects on promoter function in a modified E. coli-based transcription system. J Bact In press.
• Huang L, Jin J, Deighan P, Kiner E, McReynolds L, Lieberman J. (2013) Efficient and specific gene knockdown by small interfering RNAs produced in bacteria. Nat. Biotech. 31: 350-356. Highlighted in: Renewable RNAi. Nat. Biotech. 31: 319-320.
• Twist KA, Campbell E, Deighan P, Nechaev S, Jain V, Geiduschek EP, Hochschild A, Darst S. (2011) Crystal structure of the bacteriophage T4 late-transcription co-activator gp33 with the β-subunit flap domain of E. coli RNA polymerase.  Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 108: 19961-19966.
• Deighan P, Pukhrambam C, Nickels BE, Hochschild A. (2011) Initial transcribed region sequences influence the composition and functional properties of the bacterial elongation complex. Genes Dev 25: 77-88.
• Rao X, Deighan P, Hua Z, Hu X, Wang J, Luo M, Wang J, Liang Y, Zhong G, Hochschild A, Shen L. (2009) A regulator from Chlamydia trachomatis modulates the activity of RNA polymerase through direct interaction with the beta subunit and the primary sigma subunit. Genes Dev 23: 1818-1829.
• Deighan P, Diez CM, Leibman M, Hochschild A, Nickels BE. (2008) The bacteriophage lambda Q antiterminator protein contacts the beta-flap domain of RNA polymerase.  Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105: 15305-15310.
• Deighan P, Hochschild, A. (2007) The bacteriophage lambda Q antiterminator protein regulates late gene expression as a stable component of the transcription elongation complex. Mol Microbiol 63: 911-920.
• Deighan P, Hochschild, A. (2006) Conformational toggle triggers a modulator of RNA polymerase activity.  Trends Biochem Sci 31: 424-426.
• Hinde P, Deighan P, Dorman CJ. (2005) Characterization of the detachable Rho-dependent transcription terminator of the fimE gene in Escherichia coli K-12.  J Bact 187: 8256-8266.
• Gregory BD, Deighan P, Hochschild A. (2005) An artificial activator that contacts a normally occluded surface of the RNA polymerase holoenzyme.  J Mol Biol 353: 497-506.
• *Beloin C, *Deighan P, Doyle M, Dorman CJ. (2003) Shigella flexneri 2a strain 2457T expresses three members of the H-NS-like protein family: characterization of the Sfh protein. Mol Genet Genomics 270: 66-77 (*equal contributions)
• Deighan P, Beloin C, Dorman CJ. (2003) Three-way interactions among the Sfh, StpA and H-NS nucleoid-structuring proteins of Shigella flexneri 2a strain 2457T.  Mol Microbiol48: 1401-1416.
• Dorman CJ, Deighan P. (2003) Regulation of gene expression by histone-like proteins in bacteria.  Curr Opin Genet Dev13: 179-184.
• Free A, Porter ME, Deighan P, Dorman, CJ. (2001) Requirement for the molecular adapter function of StpA at the Escherichia coli bgl promoter depends upon the level of truncated H-NS protein.  Mol Microbiol42: 903-918.
• Deighan P, Free A, Dorman CJ. (2000) A role for the Escherichia coli H NS-like protein StpA in OmpF porin expression through modulation of micF RNA stability.  Mol Microbiol 38: 126-139.

Research Focus

Current students:

Kelsey Barrasso '14; May 2014 - present

Madison Altwies '14; Aug 2014 - present

Dionigi Disaverio '14; June 2013 - June 2014
Recipient of an Emmanuel College summer research internship and a Tri-beta undergraduate research award, Dionigi modified a bacterial two-hybrid (B2H) assay to enable high-throughput screens for productive protein/protein intertactions using FACS.


Research training opportunities:
Research is fun, important, and gratifying. I have been performing research for 5 years at Trinity College and 9 years at Harvard and now I want you to teach you how to perform rigorous and relevant research! Enthusiastic individuals curious about basic research and who want to gain experience in the fields of genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology and microbiology should contact me for a chat. A minimum commitment of 12 hours per week spanning two semesters is expected. Trainees may also participate in Emmanuel's ten-week summer research program and perform projects for BIOL 4194/4195 classes.

Our research is performed at both our new lab at Emmanuel and in collaboration with our next-door-neighbors in the Hochschild Lab at Harvard Medical School.

During your research please expect to: take risks * make mistakes * learn a lot * laugh a lot.

Research Focus

Training. The primary emphasis of our lab is to teach students (starting as early as possible in their career) how to approach scientific problems, and then how to design and execute rigorous and relevant experiments to address these problems. Our published papers contribute to the understanding of how E. coli does what it does.

An electron micrograph of E. coli - our model organism (Thanks Vik!)

Bacterial two-hybrid assay (B2H). Protein/protein interactions underpin how E. coli does what it does. We utilize the B2H assay that was developed in Ann Hochschild’s Lab at Harvard Medical School to uncover and dissect these interactions. Lower left: Agar plate of ‘bioart’ prepared with our new B2H strain that harbored either interacting or non-interacting protein/protein pairs and imaged under regular light. Lower right: sample plate visualized for fluorescence.

Genetics. Crystal structure (PMID: 12016306) and my wooden interpretation(!) of a bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP). A particular focus of the lab that is complementary to, and sometimes guided by crystallographic studies, is to dissect how transcription factors interact with RNAP to modulate its functional properties.

Coreome. To unmask protein binding determinants on RNA polymerase (RNAP) the RNAP core enzyme was parsed into 30+ discrete, surface exposed, independently folded fragments. Using this “coreome library” we can reveal protein binding sites on RNAP and subsequently dissect those interactions.

Tracking RNA polymerase. Using a variety of molecular biology and biochemical techniques we characterize RNAP activity both within E. coli cells and in highly purified in vitro systems.