Education

• B.S., Northland College (Biology)
• Ph.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham (Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center

Background

I am a Wisconsin boy, born and raised on a small farm in Caledonia. My wife, Christy, and I have been blessed with two boys who keep us busy with their academic and athletic pursuits. We live in Oak Creek and are members at Trinity Lutheran Church in Caledonia. When I’m not busy employing my left brain as a Biology professor and Academic Dean, I enjoying exercising my right brain in the pursuit of photography and digital editing.

Teaching

I am currently teaching:

• Microbes: Friends and Foes

I have previously taught:

• Principles of Biology 2
• Microbiology
• Genetics
• Cell Biology
• Immunology
• Research Strategies
• Molecular Biology

Research Interests

My graduate research focused on bioremediation and biosensing. In particular, I developed recombinant bacteria capable of sequestering heavy metals from aquatic environments as well as sensing heavy metals and other toxins in the environment. During my postdoctoral fellowship, I worked on the development of novel vaccines based on the adjuvant properties of cholera toxin.

At WLC, I have continued to work on the development of bacterial biosensors, specifically for the detection of phosphorus in environmental samples. I am also interested in determining the types of microbes that form specific biomes. Of course, I’m also fascinated by bacterial pathogenesis and the corresponding mechanisms of vertebrate immunity.

Scholarly Works

Select Publications

Rockman, A., A. Armstrong, V. Hartmann, R. Balza, J. Erbe, D. Ebeling, and A. Ebeling. 2013. Using soil and water treatment residuals in a  lab-scale constructed wetland to remediate silver nanoparticles. Computational Water, Energy, and Environmental Engineering. 2:16-25.

Tinker, J.K., Erbe, J. and Holmes, R.K. 2005. Characterization of Fluorescent Chimeras of Cholera Toxin and Escherichia coli Heat-Labile Enterotoxins Produced by Use of the Twin Arginine-Translocation System. Infection and Immunity. 73:3627-3635.

Petrie, A., Finkel, S. and Erbe, J. 2005. Use of Long-Term E. coli Cultures to Study Generation of Genetic Diversity and Teach General Microbiology Skills. American Biology Teacher. 67:87-92.

Li, X., Erbe, J.L., Lockatelli, C.V., Johnson, D.E., Jobling, M.G., Holmes, R.K., and Mobley, H.T. 2004. Use of a Translational Fusion of the mrpH Fimbrial Adhesin Binding Domain with Cholera Toxin A2 Domain, Coexpressed with Cholera Toxin B subunit, as an Intranasal Vaccine to Prevent Experimental Urinary Tract Infection by Proteus mirabilis. Infection and Immunity. 72:7306-7310.

Tinker, J.K., Erbe, J.L., and Holmes, R.K. 2003. Cholera Holotoxin Assembly Requires a Hydrophobic A-B5 Interface: Mutational Analysis and Development of an in vitro Assembly System. Infection and Immunity. 71:4093-4101.

Siekierke, J.G. and Erbe, J.L. 2003. Restriction Analysis of Subclones, in E. coli Plasmid Vectors: Methods and Applications (Casali, N. and Preston, A., eds.) Humana Press, Totowa, NJ, pp. 175-181.

Merritt, E.A., Kuhn, P., Sarfaty, S., Erbe, J.L., Holmes, R.K., and Hol, W.G.J. 1998. 1.25D resolution refinement of the cholera toxin B-pentamer: evidence of peptide backbone strain at the receptor binding site. J. Mol. Biol. 282:1043-1059. 

Jobling, M.J., Palmer, L.M., Erbe, J.L., and Holmes, R.K. 1997. Construction and characterization of versatile cloning vectors for delivery of native foreign proteins to the periplasm of Escherichia coli. Plasmid. 38:158-173.

Erbe, J.L., Adams, A.C., Taylor, K.B., and Hall, L.M. 1996. Cyanobacteria carrying an smt-lux transcriptional fusion as biosensors for the detection of heavy metal cations. J. Ind. Microbiol. 17:80-83.

Erbe, J.L., Taylor, K.B., and Hall, L.M. 1996. Expression of mouse metallothionein in the cyanobacterium Synechococcus PCC7942. J. Ind. Microbiol. 17:41-46.

Erbe, Jarrod L., Taylor, Kenneth B., and Hall, Leo M. 1995. Metalloregulation of the cyanobacterial smt locus: identification of SmtB binding sites and direct interaction with metal. Nuc. Acids Res. 23:2472-2478.

Select Abstracts and Presentations

Ebeling, D., Werner, J.; Peaslee, D.; Ploense, L., Ploense, R.; Stetter, E.; Findlay, M.; Meulendyk, B.; Lee, M.; Patel, V.; Erbe, J.; Stetter, J. Initial validation of a compact ozone sterilization chamber prototype using an E. coli bacteriophage.  International Society of Exposure Science (2020).

Hartmann, T., Rockman, A., Armstrong, A., Wagner, M., Tellier, B., Erbe, J. Balza, R. Ebeling, D., Ebeling, A. Effect of Silver Nanoparticles on Zebrafish and Bacteria in Lab- Scale Constructed Wetland with Potential Remediation by Soil and Water Treatment Residuals. Abstracts of the International Annual Meeting of the ASA, CSSA, and SSSA (2012).

V. Hartmann, M. Reep, N. Kersten, J. Erbe, A. Ebeling, and D. Ebeling. Lab Scale Constructed Wetland. ASA-CSSA-SSSA-GSA International Meeting, San Antonio, TX; October, 2011.

Ebeling, Daniel D., Erbe, J., Kroken, A., Potratz, J., Majeskie, A., and Davis, J. Construction and Characterization of a Phosphate Biosensor. Footprints in the Landscape: Sustainability through Plant and Soil Sciences. (2009).

Haley, Kimberly A., Glaeske, Kevin W., Erbe, Jarrod L., and Mundt, Andrew A. Sulfonamides: A very Interdisciplinary Class of Molecules. Abstracts of the 238th American Chemical Society national meeting (2009).

Kroken, A.R., Ebeling, D.D., Erbe, J.L. Construction and Characterization of a Phosphate Biosensor. Abstracts of the 107th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology (2007).

Markham, A., Balza, J., Mellon, T., and Erbe, J. Initial Characterization of Nitrifying Microorganisms in an Engineered Wetland Wastewater Treatment System: An Active Learning Approach to the Nitrogen Cycle. Abstracts of the 105th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology (2005).

Erbe, J.L. and Finkel, S.E. Use of Long-Term E. coli Cultures to Study Generation of Genetic Diversity and Teach General Microbiology Skills. Abstracts of the 101st General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology (2000).

Service

Professional Memberships

• American Conference of Academic Deans
• Association of American Colleges and Universities
• American Society for Microbiology
• Project Kaleidoscope - Faculty for the 21st Century