University of Georgia Department of Plant Biology

Ph.D Fungal Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Texas - Austin 1992

B.A. Microbiology, University of Texas - Austin 1985

Research in my lab focuses on polar growth in the model filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans and the pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. One major project in the lab is examining septins, novel cytoskeletal proteins, in A. nidulans. Work in other systems has shown that the septins function as scaffolds, organizing the division plane and other areas of new cell growth. Research in our lab has shown that there are 5 septins in A. nidulans and that one of those septins localizes to septa, forming branches and conidiophore layers. The filamentous localization of A. nidulans septins is especially exciting because it furnishes an experimentally tractable system to investigate the significance of the septin filaments previously only reported in animals.

The other major project in the lab is looking at gene expression and polar growth in A. fumigatus. A. fumigatus causes invasive aspergillosis, an often fatal disease of the immunocompromised. We are using microarrays and deep sequencing to study the genes that are expressed in the early growth of this fungus.

• UGA BSRI Seed Grant program - Exploring the role of O-Glycosylation in Stability and Activity of Secreted Lignocellulosic-degrading Enzymes. PI: M. Momany, October, 2010- September, 2011, $20,000.
• National Science Foundation - Septins in Fungal Development. PI: M. Momany, February 1, 2011-February 31, 2013, $460,000
• National Institutes of Health - Temporal and Spatial Profiling of Gene Expression During Polar Growth of Aspergillus fumigatus. PI: M. Momany, June, 2008- May, 2011, $322,812

• Gordon Research Conference: Cellular and Molecular Fungal Biology - Vice co-chair for 2008, Co-chair for 2010
• National Academies Education Fellow in the Life Sciences 2008
• American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow 2008
• Sandy Beaver Award for Excellence in Teaching (Franklin College, UGA) 2005
• Aspergillus Genome Research Policy Committee (2003- )
  AGRPC Chair (4/2004- )

• Hernández-Rodríguez Y and M. Momany. 2012. Posttranslational modifications and assembly of septin heteropolymers and higher-order structures. Current Opinion in Microbiology 15: 660-668
  Leal, S.M. Jr, Vareechon, C., Cowden, S., Cobb, B.A., Latgé J.P., Momany, M., and E. Pearlman. 2012. Fungal antioxidant pathways promote survival against neutrophils during infection. Journal of Clinical Investigation 122: 2482-2498.
  Suh M.J., Fedorova. N.D., Cagas. S.E., Hastings, S., Fleischmann, R.D., Peterson, S.N., Perlin, D.S., Nierman, W.C., Pieper, R. and M. Momany. 2012. Development stage-specific proteomic profiling uncovers small, lineage specific proteins most abundant in the Aspergillus fumigatus conidial proteome. Proteome Science 10:30.
  Beckham, G. T.,  Dai, Z., Matthews, J.F., Momany, M., Payne, C.M. Adney, W.S., Baker, S.E. and Himmel, M.E. 2012. Harnessing glycosylation to improve cellulase activity. Current Opinion in Biotechnology 23: 338-45.
  Hernandez-Rodriguez, Y., Hastings, S. and M. Momany. 2012. The septin AspB in Aspergillus nidulans forms bars and filaments and plays roles in growth emergence and conidiation. Eukaryotic Cell 11: 311-323.
  Deak, E., Nelson, M., Hernández-Rodríguez,Y., Gade, L., Baddley, J., Momany, M., Steele, C. and S. A. Balajee. 2011. Aspergillus terreus accessory conidia are multinucleated, hyperpolarizing structures that display differential dectin staining and can induce heightened inflammatory responses in a pulmonary model of aspergillosis. Virulence 2: 200-07.
  Leal, S.M., Hastings, S., Hsia, Y., Ghannoum, M., Momany, M. and E. Pearlman. 2010. Distinct Roles for Dectin-1 and TLR4 in the Pathogenesis of Aspergillus fumigatus Keratitis. PLoSPath, 6:1000976.
  Lindsey, R., Ha, Y. and M. Momany. 2010. A septin from the filamentous fungus A. nidulans induces atypical pseudohyphae in the budding yeast S. cerevisiae.  PLoSOne5:9858.
  Pearlman, E., Leal, S., Tarabishy, A., Sun, Y., Szczotka-Flynn, L., Imamura, Y., Mukherajee, P.,Chandra, J., Momany, M., Hastings-Cowden, S. and M. Ghannoum, M. 2010. Pathogenesis of Fungal Keratitis. In Encyclopedia of the Eye. (eds. Besharse, J. Dartt, D., Battelle,B. Dana, R. Beebe, D. Bex,P., Bishop,P., Bok, D.,  D'Amore, P., Edelhauser, H. Mcloon, L., Niederkorn, J., Reh, T. and E. Tamm. Academic Press.
  Lindsey, R., Cowden, S. Hernandez-Rodriguez, Y. and M. Momany. 2010. Septins AspA and AspC are important for normal development and limit the emergence of new growth foci in the multicellular fungus Aspergillus nidulans. Eukaryotic Cell 9:155-63.  Hernández-Rodríguez Y and M. Momany. 2012. Posttranslational modifications and assembly of septin heteropolymers and higher-order structures. Current Opinion in Microbiology 15: 660-668
• Leal, S.M. Jr, Vareechon, C., Cowden, S., Cobb, B.A., Latgé J.P., Momany, M., and E. Pearlman. 2012. Fungal antioxidant pathways promote survival against neutrophils during infection. Journal of Clinical Investigation 122: 2482-2498.
• Suh M.J., Fedorova. N.D., Cagas. S.E., Hastings, S., Fleischmann, R.D., Peterson, S.N., Perlin, D.S., Nierman, W.C., Pieper, R. and M. Momany. 2012. Development stage-specific proteomic profiling uncovers small, lineage specific proteins most abundant in the Aspergillus fumigatus conidial proteome. Proteome Science 10:30.
• Beckham, G. T.,  Dai, Z., Matthews, J.F., Momany, M., Payne, C.M. Adney, W.S., Baker, S.E. and Himmel, M.E. 2012. Harnessing glycosylation to improve cellulase activity. Current Opinion in Biotechnology 23: 338-45.
• Hernandez-Rodriguez, Y., Hastings, S. and M. Momany. 2012. The septin AspB in Aspergillus nidulans forms bars and filaments and plays roles in growth emergence and conidiation. Eukaryotic Cell 11: 311-323.
• Deak, E., Nelson, M., Hernández-Rodríguez,Y., Gade, L., Baddley, J., Momany, M., Steele, C. and S. A. Balajee. 2011. Aspergillus terreus accessory conidia are multinucleated, hyperpolarizing structures that display differential dectin staining and can induce heightened inflammatory responses in a pulmonary model of aspergillosis. Virulence 2: 200-07.
• Leal, S.M., Hastings, S., Hsia, Y., Ghannoum, M., Momany, M. and E. Pearlman. 2010. Distinct Roles for Dectin-1 and TLR4 in the Pathogenesis of Aspergillus fumigatus Keratitis. PLoSPath, 6:1000976.
• Lindsey, R., Ha, Y. and M. Momany. 2010. A septin from the filamentous fungus A. nidulans induces atypical pseudohyphae in the budding yeast S. cerevisiae.  PLoSOne5:9858.
• Pearlman, E., Leal, S., Tarabishy, A., Sun, Y., Szczotka-Flynn, L., Imamura, Y., Mukherajee, P.,Chandra, J., Momany, M., Hastings-Cowden, S. and M. Ghannoum, M. 2010. Pathogenesis of Fungal Keratitis. In Encyclopedia of the Eye. (eds. Besharse, J. Dartt, D., Battelle,B. Dana, R. Beebe, D. Bex,P., Bishop,P., Bok, D.,  D'Amore, P., Edelhauser, H. Mcloon, L., Niederkorn, J., Reh, T. and E. Tamm. Academic Press.
• Lindsey, R., Cowden, S. Hernandez-Rodriguez, Y. and M. Momany. 2010. Septins AspA and AspC are important for normal development and limit the emergence of new growth foci in the multicellular fungus Aspergillus nidulans. Eukaryotic Cell 9:155-63.

• American Association for the Advancement of Science,
• Genetics Society of America,
• American Society for Microbiology,