Investigators and Program Directors

Research Interests

The molecular biology of mobile DNA elements in bacteria and in particular, the study of the mechanism of transposition of a small insertion element, IS903, and the process of conjugation in mycobacteria.

IS903 is a small transposon of 1057 bp. It is flanked by perfect inverted repeats and encodes a 307 amino-acid protein, transposase, which carries out the transposition process. The inverted repeats are the only DNA elements required for transposition and it is assumed that they are recognized and cleaved at their ends by the transposase. The excised transposon is then inserted into the target DNA. By using a combination of genetics, biochemistry and physical studies we are dissecting the various steps of transposition in order to develop a structure-function analysis of the protein that carries out transposition.

The second project involves the study of a novel conjugation system in mycobacteria. Mycobacteria cause several important diseases of humans, but the biology and genetics of these organisms are not well understood. We have begun to characterize a novel conjugation system, which involves the mobilization of chromosomal DNA between strains of mycobacteria. We hope to develop this system as a genetic tool to facilitate the study and genetic manipulation of the slow-growing pathogenic mycobacteria.

Contact Information

Phone 518-473-6079
Fax 518-486-7971
E-mail: keith.derbyshire@wadsworth.org