Research Interests
The research in my laboratory is on DNA rearrangements that regulate gene expression. We have identified a unique family of DNA recombinases, the Piv/MooV family that includes site-specific recombinases and transposases. We utilize genetic and biochemical approaches to determine recombination mechanisms for the Piv/MooV DNA recombinases. Our current work focuses on the two defining members of the Piv/MooV family. Piv, a site-specific recombinase, mediates inversion of a chromosomal segment that controls expression of virulence factors in the human eye pathogen, Moraxella lacunata. MooV, a DNA transposase, catalyzes reversible excision of the transposable element IS492, which regulates extracellular polysaccharide expression in the marine biofilm-forming bacterium, Pseudoalteromonas atlantica. Definition of the molecular mechanisms for DNA recombination mediated by the recombinases of the Piv/MooV family will significantly contribute to understanding the numerous uncharacterized DNA rearrangements that are involved in medically important processes, ranging from microbial pathogenesis to oncogenesis, and may provide new targets for development of therapeutics.