Molecular Genetics

We study the molecular basis of bacterial growth and cell shape determination in critical bacterial pathogens with “unusual” shapes. Our research helps us to understand how bacterial shape contributes to pathogenesis, and identifies vulnerabilities in understudied bacterial growth plans.

We focus on identifying conserved eukaryotic genes that control the activity of mobile retrotransposons and retroviruses for application as drug targets in the treatment of cancer, degenerative disease and AIDS.

We use innovative molecular genomic approaches to address fundamental questions of mycobacterial biology. Our findings shed new light on the evolution and function of mycobacterial genomes, accelerating tuberculosis research.

We utilize an array of mammalian genomic tools to discover genetic modifiers that influence multifactorial diseases. These susceptibility loci are targets for diagnosis and treatment of similar disorders in humans.

We use genetics and molecular biology to learn how coronaviruses, a family of RNA viruses including the agents that cause SARS and MERS, replicate their genetic material and assemble into virions during infection.

We investigate the influence of biofilm growth on the mechanisms of pathogenesis, persistence and drug tolerance in mycobacterial pathogens, with particular emphasis on Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

We seek to understand bacterial communication by investigating how bacteria interpret autoinducers and elicit appropriate gene expression, and, more globally, to understand how all organisms decode environmental stimuli.

We study the molecular mechanisms by which multiple DNA polymerases replicate bacterial genomes completely, with high accuracy and tolerance for DNA damage, yet also create mutations that give rise to antibiotic resistance.

We study gene regulation in bacteria, with a focus on genome-scale approaches. We are interested in regulation of transcription, the function of non-coding RNAs, and leaderless translation initiation.

We study mycobacteria and use molecular genetic approaches to investigate: global gene expression, at both transcriptional and translational levels; the mechanism of distributive conjugal transfer; and synthetic genetic interactions.