Peter M. Burgers, Ph.D. – Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics

Brennecke Professor of Biological Chemistry

Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics

Lab Website
Graduate Programs (DBBS)
Publications (PubMed / NIH)

Office: 1911 South Building
Phone: 314-362-3872
Email: burgers@wustl.edu

Research

The Burgers Lab studies DNA replication and DNA damage response in eukaryotic cells. Using yeast as a model organism, the lab integrates the biochemical analysis of DNA-protein interactions in purified model systems with the genetic analysis of targeted yeast mutants. Specific areas of interest are lagging strand DNA replication and Okazaki fragment maturation, damage induced mutagenesis, and DNA damage cell cycle checkpoints.

DNA replication fork and Okazaki fragment maturation

Select Publications

Elias A. Tannous & Peter M. Burgers (2021). “Novel insights into the mechanism of cell cycle kinases Mec1(ATR) and Tel1(ATM)” Crit Rev Biochem Mol Biol. 2021 Jun 20;1-14. doi: 10.1080/10409238.2021.1925218. Online ahead of print. (Abstract)

Denis A. Kiktev, Margaret Dominska, Tony Zhang, Joseph Dahl, Elena I. Stepchenkova, Piotr Mieczkowski, Peter M. Burgers, Scott Lujan, Adam Burkholder, Thomas A. Kunkel, & Thomas D. Petes (2021). “The fidelity of DNA replication, particularly on GC-rich templates, is reduced by defects of the Fe-S cluster in DNA polymerase δ” Nucleic Acids Res. 2021 Jun 4;49(10):5623-5636. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkab371. (Abstract)

Elias A. Tannous, Luke A. Yates, Xiaodong Zhang, & Peter M. Burgers (2021). “Mechanism of auto-inhibition and activation of Mec1 ATR checkpoint kinase” Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2021 Jan;28(1):50-61. doi: 10.1038/s41594-020-00522-0. Epub 2020 Nov 9. (Abstract)

Melanie A. Sparks, Peter M. Burgers, & Roberto Galletto (2020). “Pif1, RPA and FEN1 modulate the ability of DNA polymerase δ to overcome protein barriers during DNA synthesis” J Biol Chem. 2020 Nov 20;295(47):15883-15891. doi: 10.1074/jbc.RA120.015699. Epub 2020 Sep 10. (Abstract)

Rachel Bezalel-Buch, Young K. Cheun, Upasana Roy, Orlando D. Schärer, & Peter M. Burgers (2020). “Bypass of DNA interstrand crosslinks by a Rev1-DNA polymerase ζ complex” Nucleic Acids Res. 2020 Jul 7;gkaa580. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkaa580. Online ahead of print. (Abstract)

Hohl M., Mojumdar A., Hailemariam S., Kuryavyi V., Ghisays F., Sorenson K., Chang M., Taylor B.S., Patel D.J., Burgers P.M., Cobb J.A., & Petrini J.H.J. (2020). “Modeling cancer genomic data in yeast reveals selection against ATM function during tumorigenesis.” PLoS Genet. 2020 Mar 18;16(3):e1008422. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008422. [Epub ahead of print] (Abstract)

Yates L.A., Williams R.M., Hailemariam S., Ayala R., Burgers P., & Zhang X. (2019). “Cryo-EM Structure of Nucleotide-Bound Tel1ATM Unravels the Molecular Basis of Inhibition and Structural Rationale for Disease-Associated Mutations.” Structure. 2019 Nov 4. pii: S0969-2126(19)30353-3. doi: 10.1016/j.str.2019.10.012. [Epub ahead of print] (Abstract)

Sparks J.L., Gerik K.J., Stith C.M., Yoder B.L., & Burgers P.M. (2019). “The roles of fission yeast exonuclease 5 in nuclear and mitochondrial genome stability.” DNA Repair (Amst). 2019 Nov;83:102720. doi: 10.1016/j.dnarep.2019.102720. Epub 2019 Sep 21. (Abstract)

Hailemariam S., De Bona P., Galletto R., Hohl M., Petrini J.H., & Burgers P.M. (2019). “The telomere-binding protein Rif2 and ATP-bound Rad50 have opposing roles in the activation of yeast Tel1^ATM kinase.” J Biol Chem. 2019 Oct 22. pii: jbc.RA119.011077. doi: 10.1074/jbc.RA119.011077. [Epub ahead of print] (Abstract)

Sparks M.A., Singh S.P, Burgers P.M., & Galletto R. (2019). “Complementary roles of Pif1 helicase and single stranded DNA binding proteins in stimulating DNA replication through G-quadruplexes.” Nucleic Acids Res. 2019 Jul 24. pii: gkz608. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkz608. [Epub ahead of print] (Abstract)

Sarem Hailemariam, Sandeep Kumar, & Peter M. Burgers (2019). “Activation of Tel1^ATM kinase requires Rad50 ATPase and long nucleosome-free DNA, but no DNA ends.” J Biol Chem. 2019 Jun 28;294(26):10120-10130. doi: 10.1074/jbc.RA119.008410. Epub 2019 May 9. (Abstract)

Mondol T., Stodola J.L., Galletto R., & Burgers P.M. (2019). “PCNA accelerates the nucleotide incorporation rate by DNA polymerase δ.” Nucleic Acids Res. 2019 Feb 28;47(4):1977-1986. doi: 10.1093/nar/gky1321. (Abstract)

Burgers, P.M. (2019). “Solution to the 50-year-old Okazaki-fragment problem.” Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Feb 26;116(9):3358-3360. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1900372116. Epub 2019 Feb 15. (Abstract)

Stodola J.L. & Burgers P.M. (2017). “Mechanism of Lagging-Strand DNA Replication in Eukaryotes.” Adv Exp Med Biol. 2017;1042:117-133. doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-6955-0_6. (Abstract)

Bartels P.L., Stodola J.L., Burgers P.M.J., & Barton J.K. (2017). “A Redox Role for the [4Fe4S] Cluster of Yeast DNA Polymerase δ.” J Am Chem Soc. 2017 Dec 20;139(50):18339-18348. doi: 10.1021/jacs.7b10284. Epub 2017 Dec 6. (Abstract)