Nancy A. Moran's Lab

About Thomas Smith

Tom Smith

TOM SMITH

Scientist II
Zymergen, Emeryville, CA

LinkedIn


Schizaphis graminum aphid

Research

In Dr. Nancy Moran's lab at the University of Texas at Austin, where I studied host-symbiont interactions using the pea aphid-Buchnera model system. During my PhD, supervised by Dr Eric Schmidt at the University of Utah, I studied natural products, small molecules with wide-ranging biological properties that have significant therapeutic potential.

professional experience

  • Scientist II, Zymergen, Emeryville CA, 2021-present
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, 2017-2021
  • Ph. D. in Medicinal Chemistry, University of Utah, with Dr. Eric Schmidt, 2011-2016
  • B. S. in Biochemistry and Plant Biology, University of Minnesota (Twin Cities), directed by Dr. Florence Gleason, 2007-2011

Publications

Smith, T. E., Li Y., Perreau J., Moran N. A. (2022) Elucidation of host and symbiont contributions to peptidoglycan metabolism based on comparative genomics of eight aphid subfamilies and their Buchnera. PLoS Genet. 18(5):e1010195. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010195. [Online ahead of print]

Smith, T. E., Lee, M., Person, M. D., Hesek, D., Mobashery, S., Moran, N. A. (2021) Horizontal-acquisition of a promiscuous peptidoglycan-recycling enzyme enables aphids to influence symbiont cell wall metabolism. mBio. 12(6):e0263621. doi: 10.1128/mBio.02636-21

El-Chaar, N. N., Smith, T. E., Shrestha, G., Piccolo, S. R., Harper, M. K., Van Wagoner, R. M., Lu, Z., Venancio, A. R., Ireland, C. M., Bild, A. H., Moos, P. J. (2020) Topsentinol L trisulfate, a new marine natural product, that targets basal-like and claudin-low breast cancers.
bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.17.047555.

Smith, T. E., Moran N. A. (2020) Coordination of host and symbiont gene expression reveals a metabolic tug-of-war between aphids and Buchnera. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Jan 21. [Epub ahead of print]

Li, Y. Park. H., Smith, T. E., Moran, N. A. (2019) Gene family evolution in the pea aphid based on chromosome-level genome assembly. Mol. Biol. Evol. msz138.

Smith, T. E., Pond, C. D., Pierce, E., Harmer, Z., Kwan, J., Zachariah, M., Harper, M. K., Wyche, T., Matainaho, T. K., Bugni, T. S., Barrows, L. R., Ireland, C. M., Schmidt, E. W. (2018) Direct access to chemical diversity from the uncultivated symbionts of small marine animals. Nat. Chem. Biol. (Accepted)

Smith, T. E. (2017) Biogenetic relationships of bioactive sponge merotriterpenoids. Mar. Drugs. 15(9): 285.

Smith, T. E., Hong, W., Zachariah, M. M., Harper, M. K., Matainaho, T. K., Van Wagoner, R. M., Ireland, C. M., Vershinin, M. (2013) Single molecule inhibition of kinesin by adociasulfate-13 and -14 from the sponge Cladocroce aculeata. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA. 110(47): 18880–18885.

Smith, N. J., Hone, A. J., Memon, T., Bossi, S., Smith, T. E., McIntosh, J. M., Olivera, B. M., Teichert, R. W. (2013) Comparative functional expression of nAChR subtypes in rodent DRG neurons. Front. Cell. Neurosci. 7:255.