Richard Gaber

Biography

Richard F. Gaber is a geneticist with graduate and post doctoral training in yeast genetics and molecular biology.  As a microbial geneticist and molecular biologist, his discoveries include:

  • The transfer of genes between nuclei of the fungus Schizophyllum commune
  • Identification and analysis of the first eukaryotic potassium transporter, Trk1, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
  • Identification and analysis of the first plant ion channel gene, Kat1
  • Identification and analysis of Rpd3, a histone deacetylase responsible for genome-wide regulation of gene expression
  • Identification and analysis of functional relationships between the molecular chaperone Hsp90 and several of its co-chaperones

He served as director of the Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences (IBiS) graduate program from 1998-2001 and as the director of the Program in Biological Sciences from 2004-2017.  Gaber received research grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation for his work on potassium transport and molecular chaperones in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. 

Selected Publications:

RPD3 Encodes a second factor required to achieve maximum positive and negative transcriptional states in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.  Vidal M, Gaber RF. Mol. Cell. Biol. 1992 11:6317-6327.

Functional expression of a probable Arabidopsis thaliana potassium channel in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.  Anderson JA, Huprikar SS, Kochian LV, Lucas WJ, and Gaber RF. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 1992 89:3736-3740.

Expression of an inward-rectifying potassium channel by the Arabidopsis KAT1 cDNA. Schachtman DP, Schroeder JI, Lucas WJ, Anderson JA, Gaber RF.  Science 1992 258:1654-1658.

A Function for Cyclophilin in Hsp90-mediated Signal Transduction.  Duina AA, Chang H-CJ, Marsh JA, Lindquist S, Gaber RF. Science 1996 274: 1713-1715.

Constitutive and hyperresponsive signaling by mutant forms of Saccharomyces cerevisiae amino acid sensor Ssy1.  Gaber RF, Ottow K, Andersen HA, Kielland-Brandt MC. Eukaryot Cell 2003 2:922-929.

Selected Honors:

Presidential Young Investigator Award

Northwestern Alumnae Teaching Award

Charles Deering McCormick Teaching Professor of Excellence