Connor, Thomas - Cardiff University - School of Biosciences

研究领域

Throughout my career to date I have worked on projects featuring a wide array of organisms. This is principally because rather than being focused on examining a particular organism, my research is based in the first instance around the fundamental narratives of pathogen evolution. The processes that underpin the diversity we see in the microbial world are often the same whatever species we look at; although the results they produce can be markedly different. My research is made possible by a combination of technologies that enable us to explore organisms at a resolution that has never before been possible. Firstly, whole genome sequencing, combined with high quality metatdata provides the datasets that we can use to derive the answers to the questions that we seek. Secondly, using computational and mathematical approaches, we are able to make sense of the "Big Data" challenge that is posed by the large, rich datasets that we produce. Research within my group is therefore characterised by developing and applying population genomics, comparative genomics, and phylogenetics to elucidate the natural histories of microbial pathogens. In a number of cases we have developed tools or approaches to analyse our data. However, in all cases we start first with the biological questions, and then develop the approaches to answer our question. So it could be said that while what we do is broadly Bioinformatics, the research focus is on the Biology first, and the informatics provides the tools to unlock the data that we produce.

近期论文

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Pollard, D.et al. 2016. The Type III secretion system effector SeoC of salmonella enterica subsp. salamae and S. enterica subsp. arizonae ADP-Ribosylates Src and Inhibits Opsonophagocytosis. Infection and Immunity 84(12), pp. 3618-3628. (10.1128/IAI.00704-16) Wong, V.et al. 2016. An extended genotyping framework for Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, the cause of human typhoid. Nature Communications 7, article number: 12827. (10.1038/ncomms12827) pdf Ryan, E.et al. 2016. Retrospective analysis of serotype switching of Vibrio cholerae O1 in a cholera endemic region Shows it is a non-random process. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 10(10), article number: e0005044. (10.1371/journal.pntd.0005044) pdf International Typhoid Consortium, V.et al. 2016. Molecular surveillance identifies multiple transmissions of typhoid in West Africa. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 10(9), article number: e0004781. (10.1371/journal.pntd.0004781) pdf Connor, T.et al. 2016. What's in a name? Species wide whole genome sequencing resolves invasive and non-invasive Salmonella Paratyphi B. mBio 7(4), article number: e00527-16. (10.1128/mBio.00527-16) pdf Laugel, B.et al. 2016. Engineering of isogenic cells deficient for MR1 with a CRISPR/Cas9 lentiviral system: tools to study microbial antigen processing and presentation to human MR1-restricted T cells. The Journal of Immunology 197(3), pp. 971-982. (10.4049/jimmunol.1501402) pdf Petrovska, L.et al. 2016. Microevolution of Monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium during epidemic, United Kingdom, 2005-2010. Emerging infectious diseases 22(4), article number: 617. (10.3201/eid2204.150531) Connor, T.et al. 2015. Species-wide whole genome sequencing reveals historical global spread and recent local persistence in Shigella flexneri. eLife 4, article number: e07335. (10.7554/eLife.07335)