• B.S. Biology - Haverford College 1993

• Ph.D. Cell Biology - Yale University 1998

• The Hebrew University, Jerusalem (Microbiology 1998-1999)
  Structural analysis of bacterial multidrug resistance transporter

  University of California, Berkeley, CA (Microbiology 1999-2000) Utilization of type IV secretion system by pathogenic bacteria

Research Specialities

A. tumefaciens causes crown gall disease, a disease affecting several varieties of fruit trees and grapes. A. tumefaciens transfers virulence genes and proteins into susceptible host cells. The transferred virulence genes and proteins cause infected cells to form undifferentiated tumors. Recently this unique ability of A. tumefaciens to transform plants has been used by researchers to generate important transgenic crops.

My lab studies the host cell transformation mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens in order to identify host factors involved in the intercellular transfer of bacterial DNA elements and proteins.

Teaching and
current teaching projects

Highlights of current and ongoing projects:
• In addition to the research in my, I am responsible for the undergraduate Microbiology lecture (52) and lab (52.2).

  Since arriving at Brooklyn College I have made significant changes to the Microbiology courses in order to reflect the advances in molecular biology and genomics that have been made in the last decade.

• I have also introduced bioinformatics topics and computer labs into the microbiology curriculum. These changes in the undergraduate microbiology training allow students graduate to advanced training, and biomedical and healthcare careers, with understanding and experience that is current and applicable.

• I have also updated the content of graduate level courses in microbiology, as well as introducing bioinformatic components to these courses.

A few highlights from publications in major journals:
• Deen, P.M., B.W. Van Balkom, P.J. Savelkoul, E.J. Kamsteeg, M. Van Raak, M.L. Jennings, T.R. Muth, V. Rajendran and M.J. Caplan. Aquaporin-2: COOH terminus is necessary but not sufficient for routing to the apical membrane. Am. J. Physiol. 282:F330-F340, 2002.
• Muth, T.R. and M.J. Caplan. Sorting of ion transporters in polarized cells. Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology 19:333-66, 2003.
• Brown, A., Muth, T.R., and Caplan, M.J. The C-teminal tail of the GAT-2 GABA transporter contains a novel basolateral targeting signal. Accepted for publication in American Journal of Physiology. E-published ahead of print publication. Available on-line at AJP.org.
• Muth, T.R. and S. Schuldiner. A Single Membrane-Embedded Glutamate Influences Binding of a High-Affinity Ligand to the Multidrug Transporter EmrE. R The EMBO Journal, 19(2):234-240, 2000.
• Zupan, J., T.R. Muth, O. Draper, and P. Zambryski. The transfer of DNA from Agrobacterium tumefaciens into plants: a feast of fundamental insights. The Plant Journal, 23(1): 1-18, 2000.
• Muth, T.R., J. Ahn and M.J. Caplan. Sorting Signals are Present in the C-Terminal Tails of the GABA Transporters GAT-2 and GAT-3. J. of Biological Chemsitry. 256: 25616-25627, 1998.
• Muth, T.R., C.J. Gottardi, D.L. Roush and M.J. Caplan. A Dominant Basolateral Sorting Signal is Encoded in the Beta-Subunit of the Na,K-ATPase. American J. of Physiology. 274: C688-696, 1998.
• Ahn J., Pietrini G., Muth T.R., Caplan M.J. Expression of neurotransmitter transport systems in polarized cells. Methods Enzymol. 1998;296:370-88.
• Dunbar L.A., Courtois-Coutry N., Roush D.L., Muth T.R., Gottardi C.J., Rajendran V., Geibel J., Kashgarian M., Caplan M.J. Sorting of P-type ATPases in polarized epithelial cells. Acta Physiol Scand Suppl. 1998 Aug;643:289-95
• Muth T.R., Dunbar L.A., Cortois-Coutry N., Roush D.L., Caplan M.J. Abstract Sorting and trafficking of ion transport proteins in polarized epithelial cells. Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens. 1997 Sep;6(5):455-9.
• Dunbar L.A., Roush D.L., Courtois-Coutry N., Muth T.R., Gottardi C.J., Rajendran V., Geibel J., Kashgarian M., Caplan M.J. Sorting of ion pumps in polarized epithelial cells. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1997 Nov 3;834:514-23.
• Medina R., Grishina G., Meloni E.G., Muth T.R., Berlot C.H. Localization of the effector-specifying regions of Gi2-alpha and Gq-alpha. J Biol Chem. 1996 Oct 4;271(40):24720-7.
• Ahn, J., O. Mundigl, T.R. Muth, G. Rudnick and M.J. Caplan. Polarized Expression of GABA Transporters in Madin-Darby Canine Kidney Cells and Cultured Hippocampal Neurons. J. Biological Chemistry. 271: 6917-6924, 1996.
• Finberg, K.E., T.R. Muth, S.P. Young, J.B. Maken, S.M. Heitritter, A.N. Binns and L.M. Banta. Interactions of VirB9,-10, and -11 with the Membrane Fraction of Agrobacterium tumefaciens: Solubility Studies Provide Evidence for Tight Associations. J. of Bacteriology. 177: 4881-4889, 1995.