Elizabeth Mearls

Bacterial stress response, metabolic shut-down, signal transduction, gene regulatory networks

PhD: Dartmouth College

Postdoctoral training: Mount Holyoke College

My research focus has been on the process of sporulation, which is used by some bacteria to escape undesirable environments. By forming a metabolically dormant cell type known as a spore, cells can avoid starvation when nutrients are scarce and persist in the environment for many years. The transition from an actively growing cell to a dormant spore requires changes to gene expression and extensive molecular coordination. As part of my work, I used genetic, transcriptomic, and biochemical analyses to map out these changes and identified mechanisms that allow for the fine-tuning of gene expression at the transcriptional and translational levels.

Spore-forming bacteria, like Clostridium thermocellum, have applications in the biofuels industry, and other species, like Clostridium difficile, are notable because they are pathogenic. Understanding the fundamental biological processes of these organisms has the potential to influence human health and productivity.

Currently, my focus is on teaching in our undergraduate program. I enjoy sharing both the simplicity and the intracity of foundational biology with my students.

• Mearls, E.B., J Jackter, J. Colquhoun, V. Farmer, A. Matthews, L. Murphy, C. Fenton, and A.H. Camp. Transcription and translation of the sigG gene is tuned for proper execution of the switch from early to late gene expression in the developing Bacillus subtilis spore. PLoS Genet. 2018 Apr; 14(4): e1007350.
• Flanagan K.A., J. Comber, E.B. Mearls, C. Fenton, A.F. Wang Erickson, R. Losick, and A.H. Camp: A Membrane-Embedded Amino Acid Couples the SpoIIQ Channel Protein to Anti-Sigma Factor Transcriptional Repression during Bacillus subtilis Sporulation. J. Bacteriol. 2016 Apr;14;198(9):1451-63
• Mearls E.B., D.R. Olson, C.D. Herring, and L.R. Lynd: Development of a regulatable plasmid based gene expression system for Clostridium thermocellum. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 2015 Sep; 18:7589-99
• Mearls E.B., L.R. Lynd.: The identification of four histidine kinases that influence sporulation in Clostridium thermocellum. Anaerobe. 2014 Jun; 28:109-119
• Mearls E.B., J.A. Izquierdo, L.R. Lynd: Formation and characterization of non-growth states in Clostridium thermocellum: spores and L-forms. BMC Microbiology 2012 Jun; 12:180.