Dr Rick Wetherbee
| Location |
Botany Bld Rm 102-104 |
| Phone | +61 3 8344 5057 |
| Fax | +61 3 9347 5460 |
| richardw@unimelb.edu.au |
Research Interests
- Microscopy and cell biology of algae and algal sufaces.
- Bioadhesives and the mechanisms of bioadhesion in marine diatoms.
- Biofouling; Characterization of marine diatom slimes and their interactions with different substrata; developing environmentally friendly, foul-release coatings.
- A functional genomic approach to understanding the extracellular matrix of marine diatoms.
Research Group
- Algal ScUM webpage
Some Recent Publications
- Wetherbee, R., Lind, J.L., Burke, J. & Quatrano, R.S., (1998) The first kiss: establishment and control of initial adhesion by raphid diatoms. Review. J. Phycol. 34:9-15
- Callow, M.E., Callow, J.A., Pickett-Heaps, J.D. & Wetherbee, R. 1998 Primary adhesion of Enteromorpha (Chlorophyta, Ulvales) propagules: Quantitative settlement studies and video- enhanced microscopy. J. Phycol. 33: 938-947
- McConville, M.J., Wetherbee, R., & Bacic, A. (1999) Subcellular location and composition of the wall and secreted extracellular sulphated polysaccharides/proteoglycans of the diatom Stauoneis amphioxys Gregory. Protoplasma 206:188-200
- Poulsen, N.C., Spurck, T.P., Schultz, T.F., Spector, I., and Wetherbee, R. (1999) Diatom gliding is the result of an actin-myosin motility system. Cell Mot. and the Cytoskel. 44:23-33
- Callow, J.A., Stanley, M.S., Wetherbee, R. and Callow, M.E. (2000) Cellular and molecular approaches to understanding primary adhesion in Enteromorpha. Biofouling16:141-150
- Callow, J.A., Crawford, S.A., Higgins, M.J., Mulvaney, P. and Wetherbee, R. (2000) The application of atomic force microscopy to topographical studies and force measurements on the secreted adhesive of the green alga Enteromorpha. Planta 21: 641-6.
- Kroger, N., and Wetherbee, R. (2000) Pleuralins are involved in theca differentiation in the diatom Cylindrotheca fusiformis. Protist 151:263-273
- Callow, M.E., Crawford, S.A., Wetherbee, R., Taylor, K., Finlay, J.A. and Callow, J.A. (2001) Brefeldin A affects adhesion of zoospores of the green alga Enteromorpha. J. Exp. Bot. 52:1409-1415.
- Crawford, S.A., Higgins, M.J., Mulvaney, P., and Wetherbee, R. (2001) The nanostructure of the diatom frustule as revealed by atomic force and scanning electron microscopy. J. Phycol. 34: 555-573.
- Schultz, T.F., Egerton-Warburton, L, Crawford, S.A. and Wetherbee, R. (2001) Identification of a 41 kDa protein embedded in the biosilica of scales and bristles isolated from Mallomonas splendens (Synurophyceae, Ochrophyta). Protist 152: 315-327.
- Higgins, M.J., Crawford, S.A., Mulvaney, P. and Wetherbee, R. (2002) Characterization of the adhesive mucilages secreted by live diatom cells using atomic force microscopy. Protist 153:25-38.
- Apt, K.E., Zaslavkaia, L., Lippmeier, J. C., Lang, M., Kilian, O.,Wetherbee, R., Grossman, A.R. and Kroth, P.G. (2002) In vivo characterization of diatom multipartite plastid targeting signals. J. Cell Science 115:5061-4069.
- Wetherbee, R. (2002) “The Diatom Glasshouse”, Science Perspectives. Science 298:547.
- Higgins, M.J., Sader, J.E., Mulvaney,P. and Wetherbee,R. (2003) Probing the surface of living diatoms with atomic force microscopy: the nanostructure and micromechanical properties of the mucilage layer. J. Phycol. 39:722-734
- Chiovitti A., Higgins M.J., Harper R.E., Wetherbee R., and Bacic A. (2003). The complex polysaccharides of the raphid diatom Pinnularia viridis (Bacillariophyceae). J. Phycol. 39:543-554.
- Higgins, M.J., Molino, P., Mulvaney, P. and Wetherbee, R. (2003) Characterizing the structure and nanomechanical properties of the adhesive mucilage that mediates diatom-substratum adhesion and motility. J. Phycol.39:1181-1193.
- Chiovitti A., Bacic A., Burke J., and Wetherbee R. (2003). Heterogeneous xylose-rich glycans are associated with extracellular glycoproteins from the biofouling diatom Craspedostaurosaustralis (Bacillariophyceae). Eur. J. Phycol. 38: 351-360.
- Chiovitti, A., Molino, P., Crawford, S.A., Teng, R., Spurck, T., and Wetherbee, R. (2004) Water-extractable glucans from diatoms are predominantly derived from intracellular chrysolaminaran and not extracellular polysaccharides. Eur. J. Phycol. 39:115-126.
- Wetherbee, R., Crawford, S.A. and Mulvaney, P., (2004) The nanostructure and development of diatom biosilica. In “Biomineralization” (Ed. E. Baeuerlein), Robert Wiley Press.