Education:
BA 1987 Molecular Biology - University of California at Berkeley
PhD 1994 Biological Chemistry - University of California at Los Angeles
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship:
1994 - 1999 Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusettes
Started at USC: 2000
Research Topics: Microbial/Invertebrate Genetics, Evolutionary Biology, Aging, DNA & RNA
Research Description
Research in my lab focuses on three general areas:
(1) understanding mechanisms of long-term survival and evolution in bacteria,(2) the generation of bacterial diversity in different environments, and (3) the role of DNA-protein interactions in controlling gene expression, organizing the chromosome, and protecting DNA during the stationary phase of the bacterial lifecycle.
We use a combination of molecular genetic, biochemical, physiological and genomic techniques to study many aspects of these diverse processes.
Current Projects Include:
Studying the evolution of the GASP (Growth Advantage in Stationary Phase) phenomenon under different conditions of stress and in mutants lacking certain DNA-damage repair proteins.
Characterizing the "DNA Eating" ability of E. coli during long-term survival and searching for evidence of natural competence and transformation.
Characterizing the members of the Dps regulon, their roles in stationary phase survival and the mechanism of Dps-mediated chromatin organization.
10 Selected Publications:
Click here to view all the publications for this faculty
Palchevskiy V,Finkel SE - A role for single-stranded exonucleases in the use of DNA as a nutrient. - J Bacteriol [2009] Mar 27;(): PubMed
Kraigsley AM,Finkel SE - Adaptive evolution in single species bacterial biofilms. - FEMS Microbiol Lett [2009] Feb 23;(): PubMed
Biffinger JC,Ray R,Little BJ,Fitzgerald LA,Ribbens M,Finkel SE,Ringeisen BR - Simultaneous analysis of physiological and electrical output changes in an operating microbial fuel cell with Shewanella oneidensis. - Biotechnol Bioeng [2009] Jan 15;(): PubMed
Ren C,Finkel SE,Tower J - Conditional inhibition of autophagy genes in adult Drosophila impairs immunity without compromising longevity. - Exp Gerontol [2009] Mar;44(3):228-235 PubMed
Kumari A,Minko IG,Harbut MB,Finkel SE,Goodman MF,Lloyd RS - Replication bypass of interstrand cross-link intermediates by Escherichia coli DNA polymerase IV. - J Biol Chem [2008] Oct 10;283(41):27433-7 PubMed
Stevens MH,Sanchez M,Lee J,Finkel SE - Diversification rates increase with population size and resource concentration in an unstructured habitat. - Genetics [2007] Dec;177(4):2243-50 PubMed
Ren C,Webster P,Finkel SE,Tower J - Increased internal and external bacterial load during Drosophila aging without life-span trade-off. - Cell Metab [2007] Aug;6(2):144-52 PubMed
Skvortsov D,Abdueva D,Stitzer ME,Finkel SE,Tavaré S - Using expression arrays for copy number detection: an example from E. coli. - BMC Bioinformatics [2007] Jun 14;8():203 PubMed
Pepper ED,Farrell MJ,Finkel SE - Role of penicillin-binding protein 1b in competitive stationary-phase survival of Escherichia coli. - FEMS Microbiol Lett [2006] Oct;263(1):61-7 PubMed
Palchevskiy V,Finkel SE - Escherichia coli competence gene homologs are essential for competitive fitness and the use of DNA as a nutrient. - J Bacteriol [2006] Jun;188(11):3902-10 PubMed
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