{"id":203,"date":"2015-08-31T11:25:17","date_gmt":"2015-08-31T15:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/profile\/paula-j-schlax\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T15:29:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T20:29:16","slug":"paula-j-schlax","status":"publish","type":"faculty-profile","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/profile\/paula-j-schlax\/","title":{"rendered":"Paula J. Schlax"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>BS Chemical Engineering Clarkson University, PhD Chemistry UW Madison, Post-doctoral training Biophysics Johns Hopkins University<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My laboratory is investigating translational regulation, RNA localization and RNA decay in spirochetes, including the organism that causes Lyme disease. I am particularly interested in the importance of the thermodynamics and kinetics of mRNA folding in in regulating RNA levels and translation.<\/p>\n<p>I am also involved in fostering inclusion and equity in STEM.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Courses Taught:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Biophysical Chemistry<\/li>\n<li>Cellular and Molecular Biology and Laboratory<\/li>\n<li>Biological Chemistry and Laboratory<\/li>\n<li>Topics in Macromolecular Chemistry<\/li>\n<li>Thermodynamics and Kinetics Laboratory<\/li>\n<li>Atomic and Molecular Structure and Laboratory<\/li>\n<li>Chemical Reactivity and Laboratory<\/li>\n<li>Advanced Chemical Measurement Laboratory<\/li>\n<li>Methods in Biophysical Chemistry<\/li>\n<li>Epidemics (First-Year Seminar)<\/li>\n<li>Biotechnology for Citizens<\/li>\n<li>Structure and Function of DNA, RNA, and\u00a0\u00a0 Proteins<\/li>\n<li>Methods in Biophysical Chemistry<\/li>\n<li>STEM Scholars<\/li>\n<li>Natural Science of Honeybees<\/li>\n<li>Tick Borne Diseases<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Recent Publications:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Jusufovic N, Krusenstjerna AC, Savage CR, Saylor TC, Brissette CA, Z\u00fcckert WR, Schlax PJ, Motaleb MA, Stevenson B. &#8220;Borrelia burgdorferi PlzA is a cyclic-di-GMP dependent DNA and\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0RNA binding protein.&#8221; Mol Microbiol. 2024 May;121(5):1039-1062. doi: 10.1111\/mmi.15254. Epub 2024 Mar 25. PMID: 38527857.<\/p>\n<p>Raghunandanan S, Priya R, Alanazi F, Lybecker MC, Schlax PJ, Yang XF. A Fur family protein BosR is a novel RNA-binding protein that controls rpoS RNA stability in the Lyme disease\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 pathogen. Nucleic Acids Res. 2024 May 22;52(9):5320-5335. doi: 10.1093\/nar\/gkae114. PMID: 38366569; PMCID: PMC11109971.<\/p>\n<p>T. Saylor, C. Savage, A. Krusenstjerna, N. Jusufovic, W. Z\u00fcckert, C. Brissette, Md Motaleb, P. Schlax, B. Stevenson, 2023, \u201cQuantitative analyses of interactions between SpoVG and RNA\/DNA\u201d BBRC 654: 40-46<\/p>\n<p>Snow*, E. Bacon*, J. Bergeron, D. Katzman*, A. Wilhelm*. O. Lewis*, D. Syangtan*. A. Calkins, L. Archambault, M.L. Anacker, and P.J. Schlax, 2020, :Transcript decay mediated by RNase III in Borrelia burgdorferi\u201d Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 529:386-391.<\/p>\n<p>Matsunaga, <u>P.J. Schlax<\/u>, D. Haake, 2013, <strong>\u201c<\/strong>A role for <em>cis<\/em>-acting RNA sequences in the temperature-dependent expression of the multiadhesive Lig proteins in <em>Leptospira interrogans\u201d <\/em>J. Bacteriol.\u00a0 195:22\u00a05092-5101.<\/p>\n<p>Archambault, J. S. Borchert*, J. Bergeron*, S. Snow*, <u>P.J. Schlax<\/u>, 2013, \u201cMeasurements of mRNA Degradation in <em>Borrelia burgdorferi<\/em>\u201d J. Bacteriol. 195:21\u00a04879-4887.<\/p>\n<p>Archambault, J. Linscott*, N. Swerdlow*, K. Boyland*, E. Riley* and <u>P.J. Schlax<\/u>, 2013, \u201cTranslational Efficiency of <em>rpoS<\/em> mRNA from <em>Borrelia burgdorferi<\/em>: Effects of the Length and Sequence of the mRNA Leader Region\u201d Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 433(1):73-8.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Recent Funding:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">2023-2028 : Regulatory Network of the Lyme Disease Pathogen PI Frank Yang Indiana University sub award to Schlax\u00a0 (~$178,000 to Bates)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">2020-2024 \u00a0NIH R01: SpoVG and PlzA Regulation of Lyme Disease Spirochete Infection Processes co-PI with B. Stevenson U Kentucky ($99,470 to Bates)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">2019-2020 NIH R21 \u201cUsing Fluorescence Nanoscopy to Study RNA Localization in Borrelia burgdorferi, the Spirochete that Causes Lyme Disease\u201d ($372,639 total) co_PI with Travis Gould, Bates College<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">2018-2023 HHMI: Inclusive Excellence Proposal for Bates, Project Director (2018-20)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">2018 NIH R21 Award\u00a0 \u201cPost-transcriptional regulation in <em>Borrelia burgdorferi <\/em>by the BpuR RNA-binding protein<strong><em>\u201d <\/em><\/strong>($41,490 to Bates), co-PI with B. Stevenson, U Kentucky<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1214,"featured_media":5454,"template":"","class_list":["post-203","faculty-profile","type-faculty-profile","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","expertise-biophysical-chemistry","expertise-specific-gene-expression-and-regulation","expertise-specific-mrna-degradation","expertise-specific-mrna-structure-and-function","expertise-specific-prokaryotic-biology","expertise-specific-protein-nucleic-acid-interactions","expertise-specific-transcription","expertise-specific-translation","what-i-teach-biological-chemistry","what-i-teach-biophysical-chemistry","what-i-teach-chemistry","what-i-teach-laboratory","what-i-teach-specific-biological-chemistry","what-i-teach-specific-biophysical-chemistry","what-i-teach-specific-gene-expression-and-regulation","what-i-teach-specific-introductory-chemistry","what-i-teach-specific-kinetics","what-i-teach-specific-macromolecular-structure","what-i-teach-specific-methods-in-biophysical-chemistry","what-i-teach-specific-thermodynamics","what-i-teach-specific-tick-borne-diseases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faculty-profile\/203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faculty-profile"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/faculty-profile"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1214"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faculty-profile\/203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7780,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faculty-profile\/203\/revisions\/7780"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}