The laboratory of Dr. Manel Camps uses molecular genetic and computational approaches to study the biological consequences of random changes in genetic information mutations) that occur spontaneously or as a result of environmental insults. They couple the generation of random mutant libraries with specific selections or screens to study the functional impact of point mutations and to establish how genes evolve in response to selective pressure. This work is relevant for the identification of risk factors of disease, understanding the origins of drug resistance, and engineering biological activities.
Summary
Published articles Show More
Mechanisms of Theta Plasmid Replication.
Published in Microbiology Spectrum
Plasmids are autonomously replicating pieces of DNA. This article discusses theta plasmid replication, which is a class of circular plasmid replication that includes ColE1-like origins of replication popular with expression vectors. All modalities of theta plasmid replication initiate synthesis with the leading strand at a predetermined site and co...
Genetic constraints on protein evolution.
Published in Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Evolution requires the generation and optimization of new traits ("adaptation") and involves the selection of mutations that improve cellular function. These mutations were assumed to arise by selection of neutral mutations present at all times in the population. Here we review recent evidence that indicates that deleterious mutations are more freq...
Mechanisms of plasmid segregation: have multicopy plasmids been overlooked?
Published in Plasmid
Plasmids are self-replicating pieces of DNA typically bearing non-essential genes. Given that plasmids represent a metabolic burden to the host, mechanisms ensuring plasmid transmission to daughter cells are critical for their stable maintenance in the population. Here we review these mechanisms, focusing on two active partition strategies common t...
