330 Food Industry Complex
Lincoln, NE 68583-0919
E-Mail: abenson1@unl.edu
Teaching and/or Extension Activities:
Food Microbiology, Advanced Food Microbiology, (908B Molecular Biology of Foodborne Pathogens and 908B the Microarray Course)
Research Area:
1. Genome evolution in pathogenic bacteria. Comparative genomics, phylogenetics, and molecular biology are used to identify important events in the genome of pathogenic bacteria and understand the effects of genes and pathways marked by these events.
2. Evolution and development of gut microflora. 16S rRNA fingerprinting and sequencing is being used to examine development of the highly complex gut microflora in mammalian model systems, with the ultimate goal of identifying host genes that affect gut flora development.
Five Selected Publications:
Kim, J., J. Nietfeldt, and A.K. Benson. 1999. Octamer-based genome scanning distinguishes a unique subpopulation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains in cattle. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 96: 13288-13293.
Kim, J., J. W. Nietfeldt, J. Ju, J. Wise, P. Desmarchelier, N. Fegan, and A.K. Benson. 2001. Ancestral divergence, genome diversification, and phylogeographic variation in subpopulations of sorbitol-negative, b-glucuronidase negative Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157. J. Bacteriol. 183: 6885-6897.
Zhang, C., M. Zhang, J. Ju, J. Nietfeldt, J. Wise, P.M. Terry, M. Olson, S.D. Kachman, M. Wiedmann, M. Samadpour, and A.K. Benson. 2003. Genome diversification in phylogenetic lineages I and II of Listeria monocytogenes: Identification of segments unique to lineage II populations. J. Bacteriol. 185: 5573-5584.
Zhang, C., J. Nietfeldt, M. Zhang, and A.K. Benson. 2005. Functional consequences of genome evolution in Listeria monocytogenes: the lmo0423 and lmo0422 genes encode sigma C and LstR, a lineage II-specific heat shock system. J. Bacteriol. 187: 7243-7253.
Dempsey, M.P., J. Nietfeldt, J. Ravel, S. Hinrichs, R. Crawford, and A.K. Benson. 2006. Paired-end sequence mapping detects extensive genomic rearrangement and translocation during divergence of Francisella tularensis subsp. tularensis and Francisella tularensis subsp. holartica populations. J. Bacteriol. 188(16). 5904-5914.
