School of Medicine >>  Department of Infection, Immunity & Inflammation

Dr Martha Clokie

Lecturer in Microbiology

Contact Details

Address: Department of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation
Maurice Shock Medical Sciences Building
University of Leicester
PO Box 138
Leicester
LE1 9HN, U.K.

E-mail: mrjc1@le.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)116 252 2959

Societies and Meetings

Professor Peter Andrew and myself organized an SGM and Sfam sponsored meeting on 'The Effect of Bacteriophages on Host Physiology' , which was held at the University of Leicester on January 8th 2007.

I have recently taken over from Dr Willie Watson at PML as running the UK Viral Ecology Group (UK). Details can be found at: http://bluemicrobe.com/aboutus.htm

Research Profile

I am a Lecturer in microbiology. My interests are focussed on the ecology and molecular biology of bacteriophages and their relationship with bacterial hosts; ranging from bacterial pathogens to environmentally important cyanobacteria; exploiting bacteriophages and phage-derived products as an alternative to treating antibiotic resistant bacterial infections.

A highlight of my work to date was the sequencing and annotation of the first genome of a phage from the family Myoviridae that infects a cyanobacterium. This led to the startling discovery of photosynthesis genes within the viral genome. My follow-up work has included the sequencing of several other phage genomes and an analysis of their genetic diversity using a number of bioinformatic techniques. I have also characterised the expression of these genes using real-time PCR. I also have research projects of bacteriophages which infect other cyanobateria.

In recent years I have become increasingly interested in the genetics of phages that infect human pathogens. These genomes may provide the key to treatment of diseases caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. I am collaborating in this field with the pioneers of medical phage research at the Sanger Centre, UK, Evergreen State College, Olympia, USA and the Eliava Institute of Tbilisi, Georgia. I am also on the advisory council of the PhageBiotics Foundation, and for the advisory council of the Canadian Network for Therapeutic Applications of Bacteriophages (CanTAB).

I have research collaborations with Dr Elizabeth Kutter, Evergreen State College, Olympia, USA; Dr Bianca Brahamsha at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, San Diego; Dr Ruth-Anne Sandaa, University of Bergen; Dr Pascale Boulanger, Universite de Paris-Sud; Professor Nicholas Mann, Dr Dave Scanlan and Dr Anna Whitworth at the University of Warwick; Professor Mike Barer, Dr Kumar Rajakumar, Dr Aras Kadioglu and Dr Paul Jenkins at the University of Leicester.

Publications

Books

Clokie MRJ, Kropinski AM (2007). Bacteriophages: Methods and Protocols. Humana Scientific Press.

Articles

Clokie MRJ, Thalassinos K, Boulanger P, Slade S, Scrivens J, Mann NH. A proteomic approach to an analysis of the virion structure of the marine bacteriophage S-PM2.  Microbiology 2008;154:1775-1782.

Shan J, Jia Y, Clokie MRJ, Mann NH. Infection by the 'photosynthetic' phage S-PM2 induces increased synthesis of phycoerythrin in Synechococcus sp WH7803.  FEMS Microbiol Lett 2008;283:154-161.

Bryan MJ, Burroughs NJ, Spence EM, Clokie MRJ, Mann NH, Bryan S. Evidence for the intense exchange of MazG in marine cyanophages by horizontal gene transfer. PLoS ONE 2008;3:e2048.  

Sandaa R-A, Clokie MRJ, Mann NH. Photosynthetic genes in viral populations with a large genomic size range from Norwegian coastal waters. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 2008;63:2-11.

Chan Y-W, Nenninger A, Clokie SJH, Mann NH, Scanlan DJ, Whitworth AL, Clokie MRJ.  Pigment composition and adaptation in free-living and symbiotic strains of Acaryochloris
marina.  FEMS Microbiol Ecol 2007;61:65-73.

Clokie MRJ, Mann NH.  Cyanophages and light Environmental Microbiology.  Journal of the Marine Biological Association UK 2006;86:499-505.

Clokie MRJ, Millard AD, Metha JY, Mann NH Virus isolation studies suggest diel cycles in viral abundance in natural cyanophage population of the Indian Ocean. 2006;86:499-505.
 
Clokie MRJ, Shan J, Bailey S, Jia Y, Krisch HM, West S, Mann NH.  
Transcription of a ‘photosynthetic’ T4-type phage during infection of a marine cyanobacterium.  Environ Microbiol 2006;8:827-835.

Mann NH, Clokie MRJ, Millard A, Cook A, Wilson W, Wheatley PJ, Letarov A, Krisch, HM. The genome of the T4-type bacteriophage S-PM2 that infects the oceanic picoplankton.  J Bacteriol 2005;187:3188-3200.

Millard A, Clokie MRJ, Shub DA, Mann NH Genetic organization of the psbAD region in phages infecting marine Synechococcus strains. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2004;101:11007-11012.

Bailey S, Clokie MRJ, Millard M, Mann NH.  Cyanophage infection and photoinhibition in marine cyanobacteria.  Res Microbiol 2004;155:720-725.

Mann NH, Cook A, Millard A, Bailey S, Clokie M. Bacterial photosynthesis genes in a virus.  Nature 2003;424:741.

Clokie MRJ, Millard AD, Wilson WH, Mann NH. Encapsidation of host DNA by bacteriophages infecting marine Synechococcus strains.  FEMS Microbiol Ecol 2003;46:349-352.

Books and Popular Articles

Clokie MRJ. Microbes and Oxygen.  Microbiol Today 2008; 35:116-119.

Clokie MRJ and Kropinski (2008) (eds).  Bacteriophages: Methods and Protocols.  Humana Scientific Press.  In press.

Clokie MRJ (2008).  PCR and sequencing of phage DNA.  In: Clokie and Kropinski (eds.) Bacteriophages: Methods and Protocols.  Humana Scientific Press. In press.

Clokie MRJ (2008).  Quantification of mRNA expression during infection using real time PCR.  PCR and sequencing of phage DNA.  In: Clokie and Kropinski  (eds.) Bacteriophages: Methods and Protocols.  Humana Scientific Press. In press.