Dr. Alexandra Merkx-Jacques is a Canadian Government Laboratory Visiting Fellow at
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada under the supervising of Dr. Edward Topp, adjunct
faculty of the Biology Department at The University of Western Ontario. 

She obtained a M.Sc. (2001) and a Ph.D (2008) in Microbiology and Immunology at Western. 

Her current area of research in environmental microbiology includes determining the
impact of agricultural practices on the distribution of virulence genes and antibiotic
resistance in Escherichia coli. Using a Caenorhabditis elegans infection model, Alexandra
is investigating whether these traits correlate with increased pathogenic potential.
These results will be used by the agricultural sector and by provincial and federal
regulatory authorities concerned with developing environmental risk assessments as well
as recommendations and policies related to the management of organic fertilizers. 

As Vice-President of the Postdoctoral Association of Western (PAW) and the Vice-Chair of
Communication of the Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Scholars (CAPS), Alexandra also
actively advocates on behalf of postdocs.

Articles

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Cj1121c, a Novel UDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-GlcNAc C-4 Aminotransferase Essential for Protein Glycosylation and Virulence in Campylobacter Jejuni (with Somalinga Vijayakumar, Dinath B. Ratnayake, Irene Gryski, Ravinder Kaur Obhi, Sébastien Houle, Charles M Dozois, and Carole Creuzenet), The Journal of Biological Chemistry (2006)

Campylobacter jejuni produces glycoproteins that are essential for virulence. These glycoproteins carry diacetamidobacillosamine (DAB), a...

 

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The Helicobacter pylori flaA1 and wbpB Genes Control Lipopolysaccharide and Flagellum Synthesis and Function (with R. K. Obhi, G. Bethune, and C. Creuzenet), Journal of Bacteriology (2004)

flaA1 and wbpB are conserved genes with unknown biological function in Helicobacter pylori. Since both...

 

Presentations

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Genetics and Biochemistry of Protein Glycosylation in Campylobacter jejuni (with S. Vijayakumar, M. Demendi, D. Ratnayake, C. Dozois, and C. Creuzenet), Canadian Digestive Diseases Week, Canadian Association of Gastroenterology (2007)

BACKGROUND: C. jejuni produces numerous glycoproteins, including flagellins, which are important for virulence. The flagellins...

 

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The Role of Protein Glycosylation in the Virulence of the Gastric Pathogens Helicobacter pylori and Campylobacter jejuni (with C. Creuzenet), Canadian Digestive Diseases Week, Canadian Association of Gastroenterology (2007)

H. pylori and C. jejuni are Gram-negative gastro-intestinal pathogens whose virulence is highly affected by...

 

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Investigating the Glycosylation of GroEL and Its Role in the Virulence of Campylobacter jejuni (with I. Gryski and C. Creuzenet), Canadian Digestive Diseases Week, Canadian Association of Gastroenterology (2006)

Campylobacter jejuni is a food-borne human pathogen and a major cause of gastroenteritis, reactive arthritis...