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RESEARCH INTERESTS
Virus assembly; Virus evolution; Lyme disease bacteria genome; Bacterial genome evolution
The role of bacteriophgae P22 scaffolding protein role in capsid assembly
DNA recognition and packaging by bacteriophage P22 terminase
Diversity and evolution of bacteriophages that infect enteric bacteria
Plasmid diversity and segregation in Borrelia burgdorferi
Borrelia burgdorferigenome diversity and evolution
PUBLICATIONS
My research is in three rather different areas: (1) the genetic control of the assembly of virus particles, (2) modular evolution of bacteriophage genomes, and (3) genome structure and replication of the Lyme disease causing bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi and its relationship to other bacterial genomes.
The work on virus assembly is concentrated on genetic and biochemical analysis of the five proteins that are necessary for packaging a DNA molecule into bacteriophage P22 virions. Two of these are involved in recognizing the proper DNA for packaging, two build the particle itself and another is required for DNA to enter the particles. We have also been involved in the sequencing of the genomes of several bacteriophages, P22, Sf6, Mu, N15, ES18 and K02. These genomes are a rich source of diversity information as well as ideas for how bacteriophages evolve. Our Borrelia burgdorferi work has shown that these bacteria are unique in that, unlike other bacteria, they have a linear chromosome with covalently closed hairpin ends and that they carry a very large number of linear and circular plasmid DNAs. Our current work is directed toward understanding the complete genomic nucleotide sequence of this pathogen and toward understanding the detailed structure, replication and diversity of the linear chromosome ends as well as information of the genetic diversity and evolution of this species.
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