Heather A. Owen Director Electron Microscope Laboratory B.S., University of Akron 1979 M.S., Miami University 1983 Ph.D., Miami University 1988 Postdoctoral Fellow Miami University, 1988-1994	Office: Lapham 395 Phone: 414-229-6816 FAX: 414-229-3926 Email: owenha@uwm.edu Electronic Reserve Materials:
Plant Cell Biology

Electron Microscope Laboratory

The primary focus of this facility is to serve the needs of the faculty, staff and students of the Department of Biological Sciences. In addition it is available to other researchers, both on campus and from the local community. As director, I manage the laboratory and teach formal courses that provide hands-on training in the use of the equipment for both undergraduate and graduate students. Specialized instruction is also provided on an individual basis. The laboratory houses an Hitachi S-570 scanning electron microscope (SEM) and an Hitachi H-600 transmission electron microscope (TEM) that may also be operated in STEM and/or scanning mode. Both microscopes are equipped with energy dispersive x-ray spectrometers (EDS) for elemental analysis. The facility also houses B & W darkrooms and specimen preparation equipment including ultramicrotomes, cryoultramicrotome, critical point dryers, vacuum evaporators, sputter coaters, cryofixation and freeze-substitution systems.

Research Interests

Although I began my research career studying the ultrastructure of lower land plants and algae, my main area of research for the past several years has been on pollen development in the higher plant Arabidopsis thaliana. This small weed has been referred to as the Drosophila of the plant world because its small genome size and rapid generation time make it ideally suited for genetic study. Several methods of mutagenesis have been developed for this species. In my laboratory I study male-sterile Arabidopsis lines that have been generated by one of these methods, T-DNA insertion mutagenesis. Using a combination of electron, brightfield and fluorescence microscopy we describe how pollen development is altered in individual mutant lines. Then, since the mutant gene in each line has been simultaneously tagged and inactivated by the presence of the T-DNA, we use the presence of the T-DNA to isolate the gene that has been interrupted in each line using recombinant DNA techniques. Isolation and subsequent characterization of genes involved in various stages of pollen development will ultimately lead to a better understanding of this economically important developmental process in plants.

Selected Publications

Brantner, C.A., Remsen, C.C., Owen, H.A., Buchholz, L.A. and Collins, M.L.P. 2002. Intracellular localization of the particulate methane monooxygenase and methanol dehydrogenase in Methylomicrobium album BG8. Arch. Microbiol. 178:59-64. Paxson-Sowders, D.M., Dodrill, C.H., Owen, H.A. and Makaroff, C.A. 2001. DEX1, a Novel Plant Protein, is required For Exine Pattern Formation During Pollen Development in Arabidopsis. Plant Phys. 127:1739-1749. Lee, S., Owen, H.A., Prochaska, D.J. and Barnum, S.R. 2000. HSP16.6 is involved in the development of thermotolerance and thylakoid stability in the unicellular cyanobacterium, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Curr. Micro. 40:283-287. Giese, D.R., Lamelas, F.J., Owen, H.A., Plass, R. and Gajdardziska-Josifovska, M. 2000. Atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy study of MgO (110) surface faceting. Surface Science 457:326-336. Paxson-Sowders, D.M., Owen, H.A. and Makaroff, C.A. 1997. A comparative ultrastructural analysis of exine pattern development in wild-type Arabidopsis and a mutant defective in pattern formation. Protoplasma 198:53-65. Heimler, I., Rawlins, R.G., Owen, H.A. and Hutz, R.J. 1998. Dioxin perturbs, in a dose- and time- dependent fashion, steroid secretion, and induces apoptosis of human luteinized granulosa cells. Endocrinology 139:4373-4379. Maiti, M.K., Krishnasamy, S.K., Owen, H.A. and Makaroff, C.A. 1997. Molecular characterization of glyoxalase II from Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Mol. Bio. 35:471-481. Pierson BM, Owen HA, Feldman KA, and Makaroff CA. Characterization of three male-sterile mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana exhibiting alterations in meiosis. Sex. Plant Reprod. 9:1-16, 1996. Owen HA and Makaroff CA. Ultrastructure of microsporogenesis and microgametogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. ecotype Wassilewskija (Brassicaceae). Protoplasma 185:7-21, 1995. Owen HA, Mattox KR, and Stewart KD. Fine structure of the flagellar apparatus of Dinobryon cylindricum (Chrysophyceae). J. Phycol. 26:131-141, 1990. Owen HA, Stewart KD, and Mattox KR. Fine structure of the flagellar apparatus of Uroglena americana (Chrysophyceae). J. Phycol. 26:142-149, 1990. Smoker JA, Owen HA, and Barnum SR. Immunogold localization of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase in the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium, Plectonema boryanum. Protoplasma 156:113-116, 1990.