Curriculum Vitae
David R. Benson
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology
U3125
University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT 06269-3125

david.benson@uconn.edu
860-486-4258

Education and Employment
2007 Head, Department Molecular & Cell Biology, Univ. Connecticut, Storrs
1991-2007 Professor of Microbiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs
2005 Elected Fellow American Academy Microbiology
1994
Visiting Professor, University of Waikato, New Zealand
1985-1991
Associate Professor of Biology, Univ. Connecticut
1980-1985
Assistant Professor of Biology, Univ. Connecticut
1978-1980
Research Associate with R. Burris, Biochemistry, Univ.Wisconsin, Madison
1973-1978
Ph.D., Research Assistant with D. Eveleigh,  Microbiology, Rutgers University
1968-1972
B.A., Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA, English/Biology

Research Areas
Microbial ecology, microbial genomics, biogeography of microorganisms, physiology and molecular biology of bacteria, root nodule symbionts, dairy microbiology and symbiotic lifestyles.

Teaching
Applied Micro. (undergrad.),  Intro. to Micro. (undergrad.), Advanced Micro. (undergrad.), Industrial Microbiology (grad.), Physiological Genetics of Bacteria (grad.), Microbial Physiology (grad.), Special Topics Seminars (Grad. and Undergrad.), Coastal Ecology (undergrad)

Publications

  1. Tiffney, W. N., D. R. Benson, D. E. Eveleigh.  1979.  Does Arctostaphylos uva-ursi have nitrogen-fixing root nodules.  Amer. J. Bot. 65:625-628.
  1. Benson, D. R., D. E. Eveleigh, V. A. Greenhut.  1979.  Scanning electron microscopy of the N2-fixing root nodules of Myrica pensylvanica  L. (bayberry).  New Phytol. 83:755-760.
  1. Benson, D. R. and D. E. Eveleigh.  1979.  Ultrastructure of the nitrogen-fixing symbiont of Myrica pensylvanica L. (bayberry) root nodules.  Bot. Gaz. 140(Suppl.):S15-S21.
  1. Benson, D. R. and D. E. Eveleigh.  1979.  Nitrogen-fixing homogenates from Myrica pensylvanica  (bayberry) root nodules.  Soil Biol. Biochem. 11:331-334.
  1. Benson, D. R., D. J. Arp, R. H. Burris.  1980.  Cell-free nitrogenase and hydrogenase from actinorhizal root nodules.  Science 205:688-689.
  1. Benson, D. R., D. J. Arp, R. H. Burris.  1980.  Hydrogenase in N2-fixing actinorhizal root nodules and symbionts.  J. Bacteriol. 142:138-144.
  1. Burris, R. H., D. J. Arp, and D. R. Benson et al.  1980.  The biochemistry of nitrogenase, pp. 37-54, In W. D. P. Stewart and J. R. Gallon (eds.), Nitrogen Fixation, Academic Press, N. Y.
  1. Benson, D. R.  1982.  Isolation of Frankia strains from alder actinorhizal root nodules.  Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 44:461-465.
  1. Benson, D. R., D. Hanna.  1983.  Frankia diversity in an alder stand as estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate - polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Can. J. Bot. 61:2919-2923.
  1. Benson, D. R.  1984.  Consumption of atmospheric nitrogen, pp. 155-198 In E. R. Leadbetter and J. S. Poindexter, (eds.), Bacteria in Nature, Vol. 1, Plenum Publ. Corp., N. Y.
  1. Benson, D. R., C. E. Mazzucco, T. J. Browning.  1984.  Physiological aspects of Frankia , pp. 175-182, In P. W. Ludden and J. E. Burris (eds.), Nitrogen Fixation and CO2 Metabolism, Proc. 14th Steenbock Symposium, American Elsevier Publ. Co., N.Y.
  1. Benson, D. R., S. E. Buchholz, D. G. Hanna.  1984.  Identification of Frankia  strains by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.  Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 47:489-494.
  1. Mazzucco, C. E., D. R. Benson.  1984.  Ammonium ([14C]methylammonium) transport by Frankia  sp. strain CpI1.  J. Bacteriol. 160:636-641.
  1. Tjepkema, J. D., C. R. Schwintzer, D. R. Benson.  1986.  Physiology of actinorhizal root nodules.  Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. 37:209-232.
  1. Noridge, N. A. and D. R. Benson.  1986.  Isolation and nitrogen-fixing activity of Frankia  sp. strain CpI1 vesicles.  J. Bacteriol. 166:301-305.
  1. Edmands, J. A., N. A. Noridge, D. R. Benson.  1987.  The actinorhizal root nodule symbiont Frankia  sp. strain CpI1 has two glutamine synthetases.  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:6126-6130.
  1. Benson, D. R.  1988.  The genus Frankia:  Actinomycete symbionts of plants.  Microbiological Sciences 5:9-12.
  1. Benson, D. R., N. A. Schultz.  1989.  Physiology and biochemistry of Frankia in culture.  pp. 107-127, In C. R. Schwintzer and J. D. Tjepkema eds., The biology of Frankia and actinorhizal plants. Academic Press, Orlando.
  1. Tunlid, A., N. A. Schultz, D. R. Benson, D. B. Steele, D. C. White.  1989.  Differences in fatty acid composition between vegetative cells and N2-fixing vesicles of Frankia sp. strain CpI1.  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 86:3399-3403.
  1. Tsai, Yu-Li, D. R. Benson. 1989.  Physiological characteristics of glutamine synthetases I and II of Frankia sp. strain CpI1.  Arch. Microbiol. 152:382-386.
  1. Schultz, N. A., D. R. Benson.  1989. Developmental potential of Frankia vesicles.  J. Bacteriol. 171:6873-6877. 
  1. Schultz, N. A., D. R. Benson.  1990.  Enzymes of ammonia assimilation in the hyphae and vesicles of Frankia sp. strain CpI1.  J. Bacteriol. 172:1380-1384.
  1. Rochefort, D. A. and D. R. Benson.  1990.  Molecular cloning, sequencing and expression of the glutamine synthetase II (glnII) gene from the actinomycete root nodule symbiont Frankia sp. strain CpI1.  J. Bacteriol. 172:5335-5342.
  1. Harriott, O. T., L. Khairallah, and D. R. Benson.  1991.  Isolation and structure of the lipid envelopes from the nitrogen-fixing vesicles of Frankia.  J. Bacteriol. 173: 2061-2067.
  1. Zhang, X., and D. R. Benson.  1992.  Utilization of amino acids by Frankia sp. strain CpI1.  Archives of Microbiology 158:256-261.
  1. Marcellino, N. and D. R. Benson.  1992.  Scanning electron and light microscopic study of microbial succession on Bethlehem St. Nectaire cheese.  Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 58:3448-3454.
  1. Berry, A., O. T. Harriott, R. A. Moreau, S. Osman, A. D. Jones, and D. R. Benson.  1993.  Hopanoid Lipids Compose the Frankia vesicle envelope, presumptive barrier of oxygen diffusion to nitrogenase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:6091-6094.
  1. Kumada, Y., D. R. Benson, D. Hillemann, T. J. Hosted, D. A. Rochefort, C. J. Thompson, W. Wohlleben, and Y. Tateno.  1993.  Evolution of the glutamine synthetase gene:  One of the oldest genes ever studied.  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:3009-3013.
  1. Benson, D. R. and W. Silvester.  1993.  The biology of Frankia: actinomycete symbionts of actinorhizal plants.  Microbiol. Rev. 57:293-319.
  1. Hosted, T. J., D. A. Rochefort, and D. R. Benson.  1993.  Close linkage of genes encoding glutamine synthetases I and II in Frankia alni CpI1.  J. Bacteriol. 175:3679-3684.
  1. Harriott, O. T., T. J. Hosted, and D. R. Benson.  1995.  Sequences of nifX, nifW, nifZ, nifB  and two ORFs in the Frankia nitrogen fixation gene cluster.  Gene 161:63-67.
  1. Benson, D. R., D. W. Stephens, M. L. Clawson, W. B. Silvester.  1996.  Amplification of 16S rRNA genes from Frankia in root nodules of Ceanothus griseus, Coriaria arborea, Coriaria plumosa, Discaria toumatou, and Purshia tridentata.  Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62:2904-2909.
  1. Marcellino, N. and D. R. Benson.  1997.  Characteristics of Bethlehem cheese, an American fungal-ripened cheese.  pp. 114-120, In T. M. Cogan, P. F. Fox & R. P. Ross (eds.), 5th Cheese Symposium, Teagasc, Dublin, Ireland.
  1. Clawson, M. L., D. W. Stephens, W. B. Silvester, S. C. Resch, and D. R. Benson.  1997.  Typical Frankia infect exotic actinorhizal plants in New Zealand.  New Zealand J. Bot. 35:361-367.
  1. Clawson, M. L. and D. R. Benson.  1998.  Diversity of Frankia  strains in root nodules of plants from the families Elaeagnaceae and Rhamnaceae.  Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64:3539-3543.
  1. Clawson, M. L. and D. R. Benson.  1999.  Dominance of Frankia strains in stands of Alnus incana subsp. rugosa and Myrica pensylvanica.  Can. J. Bot. 77:1203-1207.
  1. Clawson, M. L. and D. R. Benson.  1999.  “Natural diversity of Frankia strains in actinorhizal root nodules from promiscuous hosts in the family Myricaceae”.   Applied Environ. Microbiol. 65:4521-4527.
  1. Benson, D. R., and M. L. Clawson. 2000.  Evolution of the actinorhizal plant nitrogen-fixing symbiosis, pp. 225-236 in Prokaryotic Nitrogen Fixation: A Model System for the Analysis of a Biological Process, ed. Eric Triplett, Horizon Scientific Press, Wymondham, England.
  1. Marcellino, E. Beuvier, R. Grappin M. Guéguen and D.R. Benson.  2001.  Diversity of Geotrichum candidum strains isolated from traditional cheesemaking fabrications in France.  Applied Environ. Microbiol. 67:4752-4759.
  1. Silvester, W. B. and D. R. Benson.  2002.  Making Nitrogen Available in Forests: The Role of Nitrogen-Fixing Plants.  pp. 135-155 In Biotechnology in Sustainable Forestry and Food Security.
  1. Swensen, S. and D. R. Benson.  2006. Evolution of Actinorhizal Host Plants and Frankia Endosymbionts.  In: Frankia and Actinorhizal Plants.  W. Newton, K. Pawlowski, eds. In Press.
  1. Benson, D. R., B. Vandenheuvel, B. and D. Potter.  2004.  Actinorhizal Symbioses:  Diversity and Biogeography. pp. 97-127 In: Plant Microbiology, M. Gillings and A. Holmes ed., BIOS Scientific Publishers, Oxford.
  1. Clawson, M. L., A. Bourret, and David R. Benson. 2004.  Assessing the phylogeny of Frankia-actinorhizal plant nitrogen-fixing root nodule symbioses with Frankia 16S rRNA and glutamine synthetase gene sequences.  Mol. Phylogenetics and Evolution 31:131-138.
  1. Benson M. J, J. D. Gawronski D. E. Eveleigh and D. R. Benson.  2004.  Intracellular symbionts and other bacteria associated with deer ticks (Ixodes scapularis) from Nantucket and Wellfleet, Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70:616-620
  2. Gawronski, J. D. and David R. Benson.  2004.  Microtiter assay for glutamine synthetase biosynthetic activity using inorganic phosphate detection.  Analytical Biochemistry 327:114-118.
  1. Brian D. Vanden Heuvel, David R. Benson, Esteban Bortiri, and Daniel Potter.2  2004.  Frankia sp. strain diversity in sympatric populations of actinorhizal species of Rosaceae and Ceanothus (Rhamnaceae).  Can. J. Microbiol. 50:989-1000.
  1. Gawronski, J. D. and D. R. Benson.  2006.  Biochemical characteristics of glutamine synthetases cloned, sequenced and expressed from psychrophilic Moritella sp. ANT-300 and M. marina.  J. Bacteriol. In prep.

  2. Bassi, C. A. and D. R. Benson 2006.  Growth characteristics of the slow-growing Actinobacterium Frankia sp. strain CcI3 on solid media. Phys. Plant.In press.

  3. Bassi, C. A. and D. R. Benson 2006.  Growth characteristics of the slow-growing Actinobacterium Frankia sp. strain CcI3 on solid media. Physiologia Plantarum 130:391–399.

  4. Nasr, H., A -M. Domenach, M. H. Ghorbel and D. R. Benson.  2006.  Divergence in symbiotic interactions between same genotypic PCR-RFLP Frankia strains and different Casuarinaceae species under natural conditions. Physiologia Plantarum 130:400–408.

  5. Benson, D. R. and J. O. Dawson.  2007.  Recent advances in the biogeography and genecology of symbiotic Frankia and its host plants.  Physiologia Plantarum 130:318–330.

  6. Normand, P, C. Queiroux, L. Tisa, D. Benson, Z. Rouy, C. Médigue.  2007.  Exploring the genomes of Frankia.  Physiologia Plantarum130:331–343.

  7. Normand, P., P. Lapierre,  L. S. Tisa, J. P. Gogarten,  N. Alloisio, E.Bagnarol,  C.A. Bassi,  A.M. Berry, D. M. Bickhart, N. Choisne,, A. Couloux, B. Cournoyer, S. Cruveiller, V. Daubin, N. Demange, M. P. Francino, E. Goltsman, Y. Huang, O.R. Kopp, L. Labarre, A. Lapidus, C. Lavire, J. Marechal, M. Martinez, J. E. Mastronunzio, B. C. Mullin,   J. Niemann,  P. Pujic,  T. Rawnsley, Z. Rouy, C. Schenowitz,  A. Sellstedt,  F. Tavares,  J. P. Tomkins, D.Vallenet,  C. Valverde,  L.G. Wall,  Y.Wang,  C. Medigue, & D. R. Benson.  2007.  Genome sizes of facultatively symbiotic Frankia sp. strains reflect host plant biogeography. Genome Res.  17:7-15.

  8. Vanden Heuvel, B. D., D. R. Benson, and D. Potter. 2006.  Soil population profiles of Frankia sp. strains parallels symbiotic representation in root nodules of Rosaceae and Ceanothus (Rhamnaceae).  Appl. Environ. Microbiol.: In Prep.

  9. Gawronski, J. D. and D. R. Benson.  2006.  Biochemical characteristics of glutamine synthetases cloned, sequenced and expressed from psychrophilic Moritella sp. ANT-300 and M. marina.  J. Bacteriol.  In prep.

  10. Normand, P. and D. R. Benson.  2006.  Family Frankiaceae.  Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Volume 4 The Actinobacteria. In Press.

  11. Normand, P. and D. R. Benson.  2006.  Suborder XVI Frankineae.   Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Volume 4 The Actinobacteria. In Press.

  12. Normand, P. and D. R. Benson.  2006.  Family Frankiaceae.  Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Volume 4 The Actinobacteria. In Press.

  13. Normand, P. and D. R. Benson.  2006.  Genus Frankia. Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Volume 4 The Actinobacteria. In Press.

  14. Normand, P. and D. R. Benson.  2006.  Family Geodermatophilaceae.  Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Volume 4 The Actinobacteria. In Press.

  15. Normand, P. and D. R. Benson.  2006.  Genus Blastococcus.  Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Volume 4 The Actinobacteria. In Press.

  16. Normand, P. and D. R. Benson.  2006.  Family Modestobacter.  Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Volume 4 The Actinobacteria. In Press.

  17. Normand, P. and D. R. Benson.  2006.  Family Acidothermaceae.  Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Volume 4 The Actinobacteria. In Press.

  18. Normand, P. and D. R. Benson.  2006.  Family Sporichthyaceae..  Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Volume 4 The Actinobacteria. In Press.

  19. Normand, P. and D. R. Benson.  2006.  Family Nakamurellaceae.  Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Volume 4 The Actinobacteria. In Press.

  20. Normand, P. and D. R. Benson.  2006.  Family Kineosporaceae.  Bergey's Manual of Systematic  Bacteriology, Volume 4 The Actinobacteria. In Press.

  21. Normand, P. and D. R. Benson.  2006.  Genus Quadrisphaera.  Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Volume 4 The Actinobacteria. In Press.

  22. J. E. Mastronunzio, L. S. Tisa, P. Normand and D. R. Benson.  2007.  The Frankia secretome:  genomic analysis of secreted proteins in three Frankia strains.  Submitted.

  23. Arnab Sen, Sur, S., Bothra, A. K., Benson, D. R., Normand, P., and Tisa, L. 2007. Codon usage patterns and predicted highly expressed genes for three Frankia genomes and their implication on life style. Antonie v. Leeuwenhoek In Press.

Books

"Selected Papers from the 7TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FRANKIA  AND ACTINORHIZAL PLANTS" (ed. L. Winship, D. R. Benson).  Kluwer Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Netherlands. Plant and Soil Vol. 118, Nos. 1-2 (1989).

Website

Frankia Website: http://web.uconn.edu/mcbstaff/benson/Frankia/FrankiaHome.htm