Texas Tech University

Dr. Paul W. Pare

Paul

Title: Professor

Education: Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 1991
Postdoctoral Study, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University

Research Area: Biochemistry

Office: Chemistry 413-B

Phone: 806-834-0461

Email: paul.pare@ttu.edu

Webpage: Research Group
Research Web Page

Principal Research Interests

  • Plant Beneficial-Microbe Interactions
  • Plant Metabolomics
  • Marine Natural-Product Chemistry
Research activities focus on: [i] characterizing signaling mechanisms that operate in plant-microbe interactions and [ii] chemically characterize natural products from plant and marine sources with biological activity within a medical context. The lab fosters the training of undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral researchers. Experimental approaches include techniques in analytical and organic chemistry as well as molecular and microbiology. Research projects that are ongoing are summarized below.

Beneficial Bacterial Induce Plant Growth

Researchers, in collaboration with Lanzhou University in China study how beneficial soil bacteria induce growth promotion, nutrient uptake and abiotic stress tolerance in plants. Such bacteria form mutually beneficial associations with below-ground roots through a complex exchange of signaling molecules, some of which have been chemically characterized and assayed for biological activity. It has been established that bacterial elicitors activate differential expression of over 600 plant transcripts related to inducible salt- and drought-tolerance as well as iron uptake resulting in greater photosynthetic efficiency. Understanding how bacteria regulate plant processes of growth and development has important implications in increasing agricultural output and improved human nutrition.

Plant Metabolomics

Researchers, in collaboration with the National Research Centre in Egypt collect and chemically characterize pharmacologically active metabolites including phenylpropanoid glycosides, iridoids, flavonoids, saponins and terpenes from solvent-extracted plant tissue. Samples are selected based on a plant's ethnobotanical history and/or its phylogenetic proximity to species rich in biologically-active phytochemicals. Metabolites are chromatographically purified, spectroscopically characterized and screened for biological activity based on bacterial and cancer cytotoxicity assays.

Marine Natural Product Chemistry

Marine ecosystems cover nearly seventy percent of the earth's surface and are estimated to contain over eighty percent of world's plant and animal species. Researchers, in collaboration with the National Research Centre in Egypt collect and chemically characterize secondary metabolites produced by marine organisms within the Red Sea; this aquatic environment is considered an epicenter for marine biodiversity due to its extremely high endemic biota. Since constituents from higher plants, along with metabolites from terrestrial microorganisms have provided a substantial fraction of the natural-product-derived drugs currently used in Western medicine, it is expected that the number and diversity of natural products will be vastly expanded by the mining of marine organisms.

Representative Publications

  • Zou Q, Chunduru J, Laroe N, Yang Y, Mohamed T, Hegazi M, Ibrahim M, Hegazy ME, Pappas D, Paré PW (2024) Anti-tumor withanolides as signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3)-inhibition from Withania obtusifolia. Fitoterapia (in press).
  • Mohamed TA, El-Razek MHA, Saleh IA, Ali SK, El Aty AAA, Paré PW, Hegazy MEF (2023) Artemisia herba-alba sesquiterpenes: in silico inhibition in the ATP-binding pocket. RSC Advances 13: 19530
  • Zhao Q, Dong M, Li M, Jin L, Paré PW (2023) Light-Induced Flavonoid Biosynthesis in Sinopodophyllum hexandrum with High-Altitude Adaptation. Plants 12: 575.
  • Su H, Jin L, Li M, Paré PW (2022) Low temperature modifies seedling leaf anatomy and gene expression in Hypericum perforatum. Frontiers in Plant Science 13: 1020857
  • Mohamed TA, Elshamy AI, Abd El-Razek MH, Abdel-Tawab AM, Ali SK, Aboelmagd M, Suenaga M, Paré PW, Umeyama A, Hegazy MEF (2022) Sarcoconvolutums F and G: polyoxygenated cembrane-type diterpenoids from Sarcophyton convolutum, a Red Sea soft coral. Molecules 27: 5835.
  • Li L, Zou Q, Chunduru J, Ibrahim MAA, Hassan EM, Laroe N, Hegazy MEF, Paré PW (2022) Anti-tumor metabolites from Synadenium grantii. Medicinal Chemistry Research 31: 666-673.
  • Schulman P, Ribeiro THC, Fokar M, Chalfun-Junior A, Lally RD, Paré PW, Medeiros FHV (2022) A Microbial Fermentation Product Induces Defense-Related Transcriptional Changes and the Accumulation of Phenolic Compounds in Glycine max. Phytopathology 112: 862-871.
  • Li M, Li J, Wei J, Paré PW (2021) Transcriptional controls for early bolting and flowering in Angelica sinensis. Plants 10: 1931.
  • Santos RC, Fokar M, Romagnoli EM, Aziz M, Bento JMS, Paré PW (2021) Monitoring a beneficial bacterium (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens) in the rhizosphere with arugula herbivory. Rhizosphere 18: 100347.
  • Ibrahim MAA, Abdelrahman AHM, Hussien TA, Badr EAA, Mohamed TA, El-Seedi HR, Pare PW, Efferth T, Hegazy MEF (2020)In silico drug discovery of major metabolites from spices as SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors. Computers in Biology and Medicine 126: 104046.
  • Vílchez JI, Y Yang, D He, H Zi, L Peng, S Lv, R Kaushal, W Wang Huang We, Liu R, Lang Z, Miki D, Tang K, Paré PW, Song CP, Zhu JK, Zhang HM (2020) DNA demethylases are required for myo-inositol-mediated mutualism between plants and beneficial rhizobacteria. Nature Plants 6: 983-995.
  • Morcillo RJL, Singh SK, He D, An G, Vílchez JI, Tang K, Yuan F, Sun Y, Shao C, Zhang S, Yang Y, Liu X, Dang Y, Wang W, Gao J, Huang W, Lei M, Song CP, Zhu JK, Macho AP, Paré PW, Zhang HM (2020) Rhizobacterium‐derived diacetyl modulates plant immunity in a phosphate‐dependent manner. EMBO J. 39: e102602
  • Zhang H, Kaushal R, Singh SK, Paré PW (2020) Bacterial Volatile-Mediated Plant Abiotic Stress Tolerance. Bacterial Volatile Compounds as Mediators of Airborne Interactions 187-200

Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

  • Address

    1204 Boston Avenue, Lubbock, TX 79409-1061
  • Phone

    806.742.3067