The Ramsay lab was established in 2013 and is based in the Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute and School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Curtin University, Western Australia.
Mobile genetic elements such as plasmids, bacteriophage and chromosomally-integrating elements are ubiquitous in bacteria and drive evolution through horizontal gene transfer.
We investigate the gene regulation, evolution and molecular biology of bacterial mobile genetic elements - along with a plethora of other interesting things we get our hands on!
The Ramsay lab currently studies mobile genetic elements active in both human pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus) and beneficial nitrogen-fixing plant-associated rhizobia (Mesorhizobium spp).
LATEST RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Murphy RJT, Ramsay JP, Lee YT, Pang S, O'Dea MA, Pearson JC, Axon JE, Raby E, Abdulgader SM, Whitelaw A, Coombs GW
International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents 2019
Eto KY, Firth N, Davis AM, Kwong SM, Krysiak M, Lee YT, O'Brien FG, Grubb WB, Coombs GW, Bond CS, Ramsay JP
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 2019
Verdonk CJ, Sullivan JT, Williman KM, Nicholson L, Bastholm TR, Hynes MF, Ronson CW, Bond CS, Ramsay JP
Plasmid 2019
Sequential induction of three recombination directionality factors directs
assembly of tripartite Integrative and Conjugative Elements
Haskett TL, Terpolilli JJ, Ramachandran VK, Verdonk CJ, Poole PS, O’Hara GW, Ramsay JP.
PLoS Genetics 2018 (Early online)
Evolutionary persistence of tripartite integrative and conjugative elements
Haskett TL, Ramsay JP, Bekuma AA, Sullivan JT, O'Hara GW, Terpolilli JJ.
Plasmid. 2017 92:30-36
Assembly and transfer of tripartite integrative and conjugative
Haskett TL, Terpolilli JJ, Bekuma A, O'Hara GW, Sullivan JT, Wang P, Ronson CW, Ramsay JP.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 2016 113:12268-12273
Diverse mobilization strategies facilitate transfer of non-conjugative
Ramsay JP, Firth N.
Current Opinion in Microbiology 2017 38:1-9