Leveau, Johan H.J.

Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology
Office Phone: 530-752-5046
Fax: 530-752-5674
E-Mail: jleveau@ucdavis.edu

Biography

B.S. Wageningen University, The Netherlands 1988 Biology
M.S. Wageningen University, The Netherlands 1992 Biology
Ph.D. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Switzerland 1998 Microbiology

Area of Specialization

Phyllosphere microbiology. Bacterial mycophagy. Microbial metagenomics. Bioreporter technology. Single-cell microbial ecology. Microbial exploitation of phytohormones.

Research

Research in Lab Leveau centers on the structure and activity of microbial communities associated with plants. We use culture-dependent and -independent methods to expand our appreciation of the functionally diverse microorganisms that colonize above- and below-ground plant parts. We are interested in how these microbes interact with each other and with their host plant, and how such interactivities may affect plant health and productivity. By adopting a microbial-ecology approach at different spatial, temporal, and pathological scales, we aim for a systems-level understanding of plant microbiomes which will improve our ability to predict, prevent, or reduce plant disease in natural and/or agricultural systems.

Selected Publications:

S. Höppener-Ogawa, J.H.J. Leveau, J.A. van Veen, and W. de Boer 2008 Mycophagous growth of Collimonas bacteria in natural soils, impact on fungal biomass turnover and interactions with mycophagous Trichoderma fungi. The ISME Journal (available as advance online publication)

K. Fritsche, W. de Boer, S. Gerards, M. van den Berg, J.A. van Veen, and J.H.J. Leveau 2008 Identification and characterization of genes underlying chitinolysis in Collimonas fungivorans Ter331. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 66: 123-135.

F. Mela, K. Fritsche, H. Boersma, J.D. van Elsas, D. Bartels, F. Meyer, W. de Boer, J.A. van Veen, and J.H.J. Leveau 2008 Comparative genomics of the pIPO2/pSB102 family of environmental plasmids: sequence, evolution, and ecology of pTer331 isolated from Collimonas fungivorans Ter331. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 66: 45-62

J.H.J. Leveau and S. Gerards 2008 Discovery of a bacterial gene cluster for catabolism of the plant hormone indole 3-acetic acid. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 65: 238-250

J.H.J. Leveau and G.M. Preston 2008 Bacterial mycophagy: definition and diagnosis of a unique bacterial-fungal interaction. New Phytologist 177: 859-876

S. Höppener-Ogawa, W. de Boer, J.H.J. Leveau, J.A. van Veen, E. de Brandt, E. Vanlaere, H. Sutton, D.J. Dare, and P. Vandamme 2008 Collimonas arenae sp. nov. and Collimonas pratensis sp. nov., isolated from (semi-) natural grassland soils. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 58: 414-419

J.H.J. Leveau 2007 The magic and menace of metagenomics: prospects for the study of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria. European Journal of Plant Pathology 119: 279-300

S. Höppener-Ogawa, J.H.J. Leveau, W. Smant, J.A. van Veen, and W. de Boer 2007 Specific detection and real-time PCR quantification of potentially mycophagous bacteria belonging to the genus Collimonas in different soil ecosystems. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 73(13): 4191-4197

F. Kamilova, J.H.J. Leveau, and B.J.J. Lugtenberg 2007 Collimonas fungivorans, an unpredicted in vitro but efficient in vivo biocontrol agent for the suppression of tomato foot and root rot. Environmental Microbiology 9: 1597–1603

J.H.J. Leveau, S. Gerards, K. Fritsche, G. Zondag, and J.A. van Veen 2006 Genomic flank-sequencing of plasposon insertion sites for rapid identification of functional genes. Journal of Microbiological Methods 66: 276-285

J.H.J. Leveau and S.E. Lindow 2005 Utilization of the plant hormone indole-3-acetic acid for growth by Pseudomonas putida strain 1290. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 71:2365-2371

J.H.J. Leveau, S. Gerards, W. de Boer, and J.A. van Veen 2004 Phylogeny–function analysis of (meta)genomic libraries: screening for expression of ribosomal RNA genes by large-insert library fluorescent in situ hybridization (LIL-FISH). Environmental Microbiology 6: 990-998

W. de Boer, J.H.J. Leveau, G.A. Kowalchuk, P.J.A. Klein Gunnewiek, E.C.A. Abeln, M.J. Figge, K.Sjollema, J.D. Janse, and J.A. van Veen 2004 Collimonas fungivorans gen. nov., sp. nov., a chitinolytic soil bacterium with the ability to grow on living fungal hyphae. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 54: 857-864

J.H.J. Leveau and S.E. Lindow 2002 Bioreporters in microbial ecology. Current Opinion in Microbiology 5: 259-265

S.E. Lindow and J.H.J. Leveau 2002 Phyllosphere microbiology. Current Opinion in Biotechnology 13: 238-243

J.H.J. Leveau and S.E. Lindow 2001 Predictive and interpretive simulation of GFP expression in reporter bacteria. Journal of Bacteriology 183: 6752-6762

J.H.J. Leveau and S.E. Lindow 2001 Appetite of an epiphyte: quantitative monitoring of bacterial sugar consumption in the phyllosphere. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 98: 3446-3453

W.G. Miller, J.H.J. Leveau, and S.E. Lindow 2000 Improved gfp and inaZ broad-host-range promoter-probe vectors. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 13: 1243-1250

C.M. Laemmli, J.H.J. Leveau, A.J.B. Zehnder, and J.R. van der Meer 2000 Characterization of a second tfd gene cluster for chlorophenol and chlorocatechol metabolism on plasmid pJP4 in Ralstonia eutropha JMP134 (pJP4). Journal of Bacteriology 182: 4165-4172

J.H.J. Leveau, F. König, H.P. Füchslin, Ch. Werlen, and J.R. van der Meer 1999 Dynamics of multigene expression during catabolic adaptation of Ralstonia eutropha JMP134 (pJP4) to the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate. Molecular Microbiology 33: 396-406

J.H.J. Leveau, A.J.B. Zehnder, and J.R. van der Meer 1998 The tfdK gene product facilitates the uptake of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate by Ralstonia eutropha JMP134(pJP4). Journal of Bacteriology 180: 2237-2243

J.H.J. Leveau and J.R. van der Meer 1997 Genetic characterization of insertion sequence ISJP4 on plasmid pJP4 from Ralstonia eutropha JMP134. Gene 202: 103-114

J.H.J. Leveau and J.R. van der Meer 1996 The tfdR gene product can succesfully take over the role from the insertion-element-inactivated TfdT protein as a transcriptional activator of the tfdCDEF gene cluster, which encodes chlorocatechol degradation in Ralstonia eutropha JMP134 (pJP4). Journal of Bacteriology 178: 6824-6832

J.H.J. Leveau, W.M. de Vos, and J.R. van der Meer 1994 Analysis of the binding site of the LysR-type transcriptional activator TcbR on the tcbR and tcbC divergent promoter sequences. Journal of Bacteriology 176: 1850-1856

V. Deretic, J.H.J. Leveau, C.D. Mohr, and N.S. Hibler 1992 In vitro phosphorylation of AlgR, a regulator of mucoidy in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, by a histidine protein kinase and effects of small phospho-donor molecules. Molecular Microbiology 6: 2761-2767

C.D. Mohr, J.H.J. Leveau, D.P. Krieg, N.S. Hibler, and V. Deretic. (1992) AlgR binding sites within the algD promoter make up a set of inverted repeats separated by a large intervening segment of DNA. Journal of Bacteriology 174: 6624-6633

J.R. van der Meer, A.C.J. Frijters, J.H.J. Leveau, R.I.L. Eggen, A.J.B. Zehnder, and W.M. de Vos. (1991) Characterization of the Pseudomonas sp. strain P51 gene tcbR, a LysR-type transcriptional activator of the tcbCDEF chlorocatechol oxidative operon, and analysis of the regulatory region. Journal of Bacteriology 173: 3700-3708

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