Barton, Ian

Research Assistant Professor

B.A. – Biology, Hiram College, Hiram, OH, 2011
Ph.D. – Microbiology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 2019

Phone:  252-744-3135
Fax:  252-744-3104
E-MAIL: bartoni19@ECU.EDU

RESEARCH SUMMARY:
I am interested in the molecular mechanisms of virulence in Brucella. Specifically, how regulation and expression of virulence functions are coordinated with the life history of the bacterium.  Brucella spp. are closely related to several pathogens and symbionts of plants and are able to use a similar genetic repertoire to infect and persist in a mammalian host. My current research aims to characterize a global transcriptional regulator and essential virulence determinant in Brucella that is shared in its relatives.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Campbell M, Barton IS, Roop RM 2nd, Chien P. Comparison of CcrM-dependent methylation in Caulobacter crescentus and Brucella abortus by nanopore sequencing. J Bacteriol. 2024;206(6):e0008324. https://doi:10.1128/jb.00083-24

Baglivo I, Malgieri G, Roop RM 2nd, et al. MucR protein: Three decades of studies have led to the identification of a new H-NS-like protein. Mol Microbiol. Published online April 15, 2024. https://doi:10.1111/mmi.15261

Barton, I. S., Ren, Z., Cribb, C. B., Pitzer, J. E., Baglivo, I., Martin, D. W., Wang, X., & Roop, R. M., 2nd (2023). Brucella MucR Acts as an H-NS-like Protein to Silence Virulence Genes and Structure the Nucleoid. mBio, e0220123. https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.02201-23

Ren, Z., Liao, Q., Barton, I.S., Wiesler, E., Fuqua, C., & Wang, X. (2022). Centromere Interactions Promote the Maintenance of the Multipartite Genome in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. mBio, e0050822. https:// doi: 10.1128/mbio.00508-22 

Ren, Z., Liao, Q., Karaboja, X., Barton, I.S., Schantz, E.G., Mejia-Santana, A., Fuqua, C., & Wang, X. (2022). Conformation and Dynamic Interactions of the Multipartite Genome in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, e2115854119 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115854119

Roop, R. M., 2nd, Barton, I. S., Hopersberger, D., & Martin, D. W. (2021). Uncovering the Hidden Credentials of Brucella Virulence. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, 85(1), e00021-19 https://doi.org/10.1128/MMBR.00021-19

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