Claire M Fraser-Liggett
 

Claire M Fraser-Liggett Ph.D.

Academic Title: Professor
Primary Appointment: Medicine
Secondary Appointments: Microbiology and Immunology
Additional Title(s): Director, Institute for Genome Sciences
cmfraser@som.umaryland.edu
Location: Biopark II, 623
Phone: (410) 706-2396

Personal History

Claire M. Fraser-Liggett is Director of the newly created Institute for Genome Sciences and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. She was previously the President and Director of The Institute for Genomic Research in Rockville, Maryland. Dr. Fraser has played a role in the sequencing and analysis of human, animal, plant and microbial genomes to better understand the role that genes play in development, evolution, physiology and disease. She led the teams that sequenced the genomes of several microbial organisms, including important human and animal pathogens, and as a consequence helped to initiate the era of comparative genomics. She has served on a number of National Research Council committees on counter-bioterrorism, domestic animal genomics, polar biology, and metagenomics. Dr. Fraser-Liggett has more than 220 scientific publications, and has served on committees of the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy and National Institutes of Health. She received her PhD in pharmacology from State University of New York at Buffalo.

Research Interests

  • Comparative microbial genomics
  • Pathogen diversity and evolution
  • Host-pathogen interactions
  • Human microbial metagenomics
  • Microbial forensics

Highlighted Research

Metagenomic Studies of the Gut Microbiomes of Obese and Lean Twins
Principal Investigator(s): Fraser-Liggett, Claire M.
The human ‘metagenome’ is a composite of our own genes and genes present in the genomes of the trillions of microbes that colonize our adult bodies. ‘Our’ microbial genomes (microbiome) encode metabolic functions we have not had to evolve on our own, but remain largely unexplored: they include degradation of otherwise indigestible components of our modern diet.

Lab Techniques and Equipment

  • Large-scale DNA sequencing and analysis
  • Transcriptome analysis
  • Bioinformatics

Publications

Fraser, C.M. A genomics-based approach to biodefense preparedness. Nature Reviews Genetics 5:23-33, 2004.

Ghedin, E., Bringaud, F., Peterson J., Myler, P., Berriman, M., Ivens, A., Andersson B., Bontempi, E., Eisen, J., Angiuoli, S., Wanless, D., von arx, A., Murphy, L., Lennard, N., Salzberg, S., Adams, M.D., White, O., Hall, N. Stuart, K., Fraser, C.M. and El-Sayed, N.M. Gene synteny and evolution of genome architecture in trypanosomatids. Mol. Biochem. Parasitol. 134(2): 183-91, 2004.

Rat Genome Sequencing Project Consortium. Genome sequence of the Brown Norway rat yields insights into mammalian evolution. Nature 428: 493-521, 2004.

Nelson, K.E., Fouts, D.E., Mongodin, E.F., Ravel, J., DeBoy, R.T., Kolonay, J.F., Rasko, D.A., Angiuoli, S.V., Gill, S.R., Paulsen, I.T., Peterson, J., White, O., Nelson, W.C., Nierman, W., Beanan, M.J., Brinkac, L.M., Daugherty, S.C., Dodson, R.J., Durkin, A.S., Madupu, R., Haft, D.H., Selengut, J., Van Aken, S., Khouri, H., Federova, N., Forberger, H., Tran, B., Kathariou, S., Wonderling, L.D., Uhlich, G.A., Bayles, D.O., Luchansky, J.C. and Fraser, C.M. Whole genome comparisons of serotype 4b and 1/2a strains of the food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes reveal new insights into the core genome components of this species. Nucl. Acids Res. 32(8): 2386-2395, 2004.

Seshadri, R., Myers, G.S., Tettelin, H., Eisen, J.A., Hedelberg, J.F., Dodson, R.J., Davidsen, T.M., DeBoy, R.T., Fouts, D.E., Haft, D.H., Selengut, J., Ren, Q., Brinkac, L.M., Madupu, R., Dolonay, J., Durkin, S.A., Daugherty, S.C., Shetty, J., Shvartsbeyn, A., Gebregeorgis, E., Geer, K., Tsegaye, G., Malek, J., Ayodeji, B., Shatsman, S., McLeod, M.P., Smajis, D., Howell, J.K., Pal, S., Amin, A., Vashisth, P., McNeill, T.Z., Xian, Q., Sodergren, E., Baca, E., Weinstock, G.M., Norris, S.J., Fraser, C.M. and Paulsen, I.T. Comparison of the genome of the oral pathogen Treponema denticola with other spirochete genomes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101 (15): 5646-51. 2004.

Hoffmaster, A.R., Ravel, J., Rasko, D.A., Chapman, G.D., Chute, M.D., Marston, C.K., De, B.K., Sacchi, C.T., Fitzgerald, C., Mayer, L.W., Maiden, M.C., Priest, F.G., Barker, M., Jian, L., Cer, R.Z., Rilstone, J., Peterson, S.N., Weyant, R.S., Galloway, D.R., Read, T.D., Popovic, T. and Fraser, C.M. Identification of anthrax toxin genes in a Bacillus cereus associated with an illness resembling inhalation anthrax. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101 (22): 8449-54. 2004.

Budowle, B., Schutzer, S.E., Ascher, M.S., Atlas, R.M., Burans, J.P., Chakraborty, R., Dunn, J.J., Franz, D.R., Fraser, C.M., Leighton, T.J., Morse, S.A., Murch, R.S., Ravel, J., Rock, D.L., Slezak, T.R., Velsko, S.P., Walsh, A.C., Walters, R.A. Toward a System of Microbial Forensics; from Sample Collection to Interpretation of Evidence. ASM Journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2004.

Person, T., Busch J.D., Ravel, J., Read, T.D., Rhoton S.D., U'Ren, J.M., Simonson, T.S., Kachur, S.M., Leadem, R.R., Cardon, M.L., Van Ert, M.N., Huynh, L.Y., Fraser, C.M., Keim, P. Phylogentic discovery bias in Bacillus anthracis using single-nucleotide polymorphisms from whole-genome sequencing. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101(37): 13536-41, 2004.

Qiu, W.G., Schutzer, S.E., Bruno, J.F., Attie, O., Xu, Y., Dunn, J.J., Fraser, C.M., Casjens, S.R., Luft. B.J. Genetic exchange and plasmid transfers in Borrelia burgdorferi sensu strictu revealed by three-way genome comparisons and multilocus sequence typing. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101(39):14150-5, 2004.

Nierman, W.C., DeShazer, D., Kim, H.S., Tettelin, H., Nelson, K.E., Feldblyum, T., Ulrich, R.L., Ronning, C.M., Brinkac, L.M., Daughterty, S.C., Davidsen, T.D., Deboy, R.T., Dimitrov, G., Dodson, R.J., Durkin, A.S., Gwinn, M.L., Haft, D.H., Khouri, H., Kolonay J.F., Madupu, R., Mohammoud, Y., Nelson, W.C., Radune D., Romero, C.M. , Sarria, S., Selengut, J., Shamblin C., Sullivan, S.A., White, O., Yu, Y., Zafar, N., Zhou, L., Fraser, C.M. Structural flexibility in the Burkholderia mallei genome. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101(39):14246-51, 2004.

Ward, N., Larsen, O., Sakwa, J., Bruseth, L., Khouri, H., Durkin, A.S., Dimitrov, G., Jiang, L., Scanlan, D., Kang, K.H., Lewis, M., Nelson, K.E., Methe, B., Wu, M., Heidelberg, J.F., Paulsen, I.T., Fouts, D., Ravel, J., Tettelin, H., Ren, Q., Read, T., DeBoy, B.T., Seshadri, R., Salzberg, S.L., Jensen, H.B., Birkeland, N.K., Nelson, W.C., Dodson, R.J., Grindhaug, S.H., Holt, J., Eidhammer, I., Jonasen, I., Vanaken, S., Utterback, T., Feldblyum, T.V., Fraser, C.M., Lillehaug, J.R., Eisen, J.A. Genomic insights into methanotrophy; the complete genome sequence of Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath). PloS Biol. 2(10):e303, 2004.

Loftus, B.J., Fung E., Roncagila, P., Rowley, D., Amedeo, P., Bruno, D., Vamathevan, J., Miranda, M., Anderson, I.J., Fraser, J.A., Allen, J.E., Bosdet, I.E., Brent, M.R., Chiu, R., Doering, T.L., Donlin, M.J., D'Souza, C.A., Fox, D.S., Grinberg, V., Fu, J., Fukushima, M., Haas, B.J., Huang, J.C., Janbon, G., Jones, S.J., Koo, H.L., Krzywinski, M.I., Kwon-Chung, J.K., Lengeler, K.B., Maiti, R., Marra, M.A., Marra, R.E., Matthewson, C.A., Mitchell, T.G., Pertea, M., Riggs, F.R., Salzberg, S.L., Schein, J.E., Shvartsbeyn, A. , Jin, H., Shumway, M., Specht, C.A., Suh, B.B., Tenney, A., Utterback, T.R., Wickes, B.L., Wortman, J.R., Wye, N.H., Kronstad, J.W., Lodge, J.K., Heitman, J., David, R.W., Fraser, C.M., Hyman, R.W. The genome of the basidiomycetous yeast and human pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans. Science 307(5713): 1321-1324, 2005.

Ghedin, E., Sengamaly, N.A., Shumway, M., Zaborsky, J., Feldblum, T., Subbu, V., Spiro, D.J., Sitz, J., Koo, H., Bolotov, P., Dernovoy, D., Tatusova, T., Bao, Y., St. George, K., Taylor, J., Lipman, D.J., Fraser, C.M., Taubenberger, J.K., Salzberg, S.L. Large-scale sequencing of human influenza reveals the dynamic nature of viral genome evolution. Nature, 437(7062): 1162-6, 2005.

Tettelin, H., Masignani, V., Cieslewicz, M.J., Donati, C., Medini, D., Ward, N.L., Angiuoli, S.V., Crabtree, J., Jones, A.L., Durkin, A.S., Deboy, R.T., Davidsen, T.M., Mora M., Scarselli, M., Margarit y Ros, I., Peterson, J.D., Hauser, C.R., Sundaram, J.P., Nelson, W.C., Madupu, R., Brinkac, L.M., Dodson, R.J., Rosovitz, M.J., Sullivan, S.A., Daugherty, S.C., Haft, D.H., Selengut, J., Gwinn, M.L., Zhou, L., Zafar, N., Khouri, H., Radune, D., Dimitrov, G., Watkins, K., O'Connor, K.J., Smith, S., Utterback, T.R., White, O., Rubens, C.E., Grandi, G. Madoff, L.C., Kasper, D.L., Telford, J.L., Wessels, M.R., Rappuoli, R., Fraser, C.M. Genome analysis of multiple pathogenic isolates of Streptococcus agalactiae: implications for the microbial 'opan-genome'. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci 102(30):13950-5, 2005.

Joardar, V., Lindeberg, M., Jackson, R.W., Selengut, J., Dodson, R., Brinkac, L.M., Daugherty, S.C., Deboy, R., Durkin, A.S., Giglio, M.G., Madupu, R., Nelson, W.C., Rosovitz, M.J., Sullivan S., Crabtree, J., Creasy, T., Davidsen, T., Haft, D.H., Zafar, N., Zhou, L., Halpin, R., Holley, T., Khouri, H., Feldblyum, T., White, O., Fraser, C.M., Chatterjee, A.K., Cartinhour, S., Schneider, D.J., Mansfield, J., Collmer, A., Buell, C.R. Whole-genome sequence analysis of Pseudomonas syringae pv. Phaseolicola 1448A reveals divergence among pathovars in genes involved in virulence and transposition. J. Bacteriol. 187(18):64888-98, 2005.

Methe, B.A., Nelson, K.E., Deming, J.W., Momen, B., Melamud, E., Zhang, X., Moult, J., Madapu, R., Nelson, W.C., Dodson, R.J., Brinkac, L.M., Daugherty, S.C., Durkin, A.S., DeBoy, R.T., Kolonay, J.F., Sullivan, S.A., Zhou, L., Davidsen, T.M., Wu, M., Huston, A.L., Lewis, M., Weaver, B., Weidman, J.F., Khouri, H., Utterback, T.R., Feldblyum, T.V., Fraser, C.M. The psychrophilic lifestyle as revealed by the genome sequent of Colwellia psychreerthraeca 34H through genomic and proteomic analysis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 102(31): 10913-8, 2005.

Holmes, E.C., Ghedin, E., Miller, N., Taylor, J., Bao, Y., St. George, K., Grenfell, B.T., Salzberg, S.L., Fraser, C.M., Lipman, D.J., Taubenberger, J.K. Whole-genome analysis of human influenza A virus reveals multiple persistent lineages and reassortment among recent H3N2 viruses. PLoS Biol. 3(9):e300, 2005.

Berriman, M., Ghedin, E., Hertz-Fowler, C., Blandin, G., Renauld, H., Bartholomeu, D.C., Lennard, N.J., Caler, E., Hamlin, N.E., Haas, B., Bohme, U., Hannick, L., Aslett, M.A., Shallom, J., Marcell, L., Hou, L., Wickstead, B., Alsmark, U.C., Arrowsmith, C., Atkin, R.J., Barron, A.J., Bringaud, F., Brooks, K., Carrington, M., Cherevach, I., Chillingworth, T.J., Churcher, C., Clark, L.N., Corton, C.H., Cronin, A., Davies, R.M., Doggett, J., Djikeng, A., Feldblyum, T., Field, M.C., Fraser, A., Goodhead, I., Hance Z., Harper, D., Harris, B.R., Hauser, H., Hostetler, J., Ivens, A., Jagels, K., Johnson, D., Johnson, J., Jones, K., Keerhornou, A.X., Koo, H., Larke, N., Landfear S., Larkin, C., Leech, V., Line, A., Lord, A., Macleod, A., Mooney, P.J., Moule, S., Martin, D.M., Morgan, G.W., Mungall, K., Norbertczak, H., Ormand, D., Pai, G., Peacock, C.S., Peterson, J., Quail, M.A., Rabbinowitsch, E., Rajandream, M.A., Reitter, C., Salzburg, S.L., Sanders, M., Scholbel. S., Sharp, S., Simmonds, M., Simpson, A.J., Tallon, L., Turner, C.M., Tait, A., Tivy, A.R., Van Aken, S., Walker, D., Wanless, D., Wang, S., White, B., White, O., Whitehead, S., Woodward, J., Wortman, J., Adams, M.D., Embley, T.M., Gull, K., Ullu, E., Barry, J.D., Fairlam, A.H., Opperdoes, F., Barrell, B.G., Donelson, J.E., Hall, N., Fraser, C.M., Melveille, S.E., El-Sayed, N.M. The genome of the African trypanosome Trypansomoa brucei. Science 309(5733): 416-22, 2005.

El-Sayed, N.M., Myler, P.J., Bartholomeu, D.C., Nilsson, D., Aggarwal, G. Tran, A.N., Ghedin, E., Wrothy, E.A., Delcher, A.L., Blandin, G., Westenberger, S.J., Caler, E., Cerqueira, G.C., Branche, C., Haas, B., Anupama, A., Arner E., Aslund, L., Attipoe, P., Bontempi, E., Bringaud, F., Burton, P., Cada, E., Campbell, D.A., Carrington, M., Crabtree, J., Darban, H., da Silveira, J.F., de Jong, P., Edwards, K., Englund, P.T., Fazelina, G., Feldblyum, T., Ferella, M., Frasch, A.C., Gull, K., Horn, D., Hou, L., Huang, Y., Kindlund, E., Klingbeil, M., Kluge, S., Koo, H., Lacerda, D., Levin, M.J., Lorenzi, H., Louie, T., Machado, C.R., McCulloch R., McKenna, A., Mizuno, Y., Mottram, J.C., Nelson, S., Ochaya, S., Oseogawa, K., Pai, G., Parson, M., Pentony, M., Pettersson, U., Pop, M., Ramirez, J.L., Rinta, J., Robertson, Simpson, A.J., Sisk, E., Tammi, M.T., Tarleton, R., Teixeira, S., Van Aken, S., Vogt, C., Ward, P.N., Wickstead, B., Wortman, J., White, O., Fraser, C.M., Stuart, K.D., Andersson, B. The genome sequence of Trypanosoma cruzi, etiologic agent of Chagas disease. Science 309(5733):409-15, 2005.

Gardner, M.J., Bishop, R., Shah, T., de Villiers, E.P., Carlton, J.M., Hall, N., Ren, Q., Paulesn, I.T., Pain, A., Berriman, M., Wilson, R.J., Sato, S., Ralph, S.A., Mann, D.J., Xiong, Z., Shallon, S.J., Weidman, J., Jiang, L., Lynn, J., Weaver, B., Shoaibi, A., Domingo, A.R., Wasawo, D., Crabtree, J., Wortman, J.R., Haas, B., Angiuoli, S.V., Creasy, T.H., Lu, C.J., Nierman, W.C., Taracha, E.L., Salzberg, S.L., White, O.R., Fitzhugh, H.A., Morzaria, S., Venter, J.C., Fraser, C.M., Nene, V. Genome sequence of Theileria parva, a bovine pathogen that transforms lymphocytes. Science 309(5731):134-7, 2005.

Budowle, B., Schutzer, S.E., Ascher, M.S., Atlas, R.M., Burans, J.P., Chakraborty, R., Dunn, J.J., Fraser, C.M., Franz, D.R., Leighton, T.J., Morese, S.A., Murch, R.S., Ravel, J., Rock, D.L., Slezak, T.R., Velsko, S.P. Walsh, A.C., Walters, R.A. Toward a system of microbial forensics: from sample collection to interpretation of evidence. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71(5):2209-13, 2005.

Wang, R., Arevalo-Herrara, M., Gardner, M.J., Bonelo, A., Carlton, J.M., Gomez, A., Vera, O., Soto, L., Vergara, J., Bidwell, S.L., Domingo, A., Fraser, C.M., Herrera, S. Immune responses to Plasmodium vivax pre-erythrocytic stage antigens in naturally exposed Duffy-negative humans: a potential model for identification of liver-state antigens. Eur. J. Immunol. 35(6):1859-68, 2005.

Gill, S.R., Fouts, D.E., Archer, G.L., Mongodin, E.F., Deboy, R.T., Ravel, J., Paulsen, I.T., Kolonay, J.F., Brinkac, L., Beanan, M., Dodson, R.J., Daugherty, S.C., Madupu, R., Angiuoli, S.V., Durkin, A.S., Haft, D.H., Vamathevan, J., Khouri, H., Utterback, T., Lee, C., Dimitrov, G., Jiang, L., Qin, H., Weidman, J., Tran, K., Kang, K., Hance, I.R., Nelson, K.E., Fraser, C.M. Insights on evolution of virulence and resistance from the complete genome analysis of an early methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureau strain and a biofilm-producing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis strain. J. Bacteriol. 187(7):2426-38, 2005.

Loftus, B., Anderson, I., Davies, R., Alsmark, U.C., Samuelson, J., Amedeo, P., Roncaglia, P., Berriman, M., Hirt, R.P., Mann, B.J., Nozaki, T., Suh, B., Pop, M., Duchene, M., Ackers, J., Tannich, E., Leippie, M., Hofer, M., Bruchhaus, I., Willhoeft, U., Bhattacharya, A., Jagelss, K., Moule, S., Mungall, K., Ormond, D., Squares, R., Whitehead, S., Quail, MA., Rabbinowitsch, E., Norbertczak, H., Price, C., Wang, Z., Guillen, N., Gilchrist, C., Stroup, S.E., Bhattacharya, S., Lohia, A., Foster, P.G., Sicheritz-Ponten, T., Weber, C., Singh, U., Mukherjee, C., El-Sayed, N.M., Petri, W.A.Jr., Clark, C.G., Embley, T.M., Barrell, B., Fraser, C.M., Hall, N. The genome of the protest parasite Entamoeba histolytica. Nature 433(7028):865-8, 2005.

Fouts, D.E., Mongodin, E.F., Mandress, R.E., Miller, W.G., Rasko, D.A., Ravel, J., Brinkac, L.M., Deboy, R.T., Parker, C.T., Daugherty, S.C., Dodson, R.J., Durkin, A.S., Madupu, R., Sullivan, S.A., Shetty, J.U., Ayodegi, M.A., Shvartsbeyn, A., Schatz, M.C., Badger, J.H., Fraser, C.M., Nelson, K.E. Major structural differences and novel potential virulence mechanisms from the genomes of multiple campylobacter species. PLoS Biol. 3(1):e15, 2005.

Graham, S.P., Pelle, R., Honda, Y., Mwangi, D.M., Tonukari, N.J., Yamage, M., Glew, E.J., de Villiers, E.P., Shah, T., Bishop, R., Abuya, E., Awino, E., Gachanja, J., Luyai, A.E., Mbwika, F., Muthiani, A.M., Ndegwa, D.M., Njahira, M., Nyanjui, J.K., Onono, F.O., Osaso, J., Saya, R.M., Wildmann, C., Fraser, C.M., Maudlin, I., Gardner, M.J., Morzaria, S.P., Loosmore, S., Gilbert, S.C., Audonnet, J.C., van der Bruggen, P., Nene, V., Taracha, E.L. Theileria parva candidate vaccine antigens recognized by immune bovine cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. Feb 21 [Epub ahead of print] 2006.

Gill, S. R., Pop, M., Deboy, R.T., Eckburg, P.B., Turnbaugh, P.J., Samuel, B.S., Gordon, J.I., Relman, D.A., Fraser-Liggett, C.M., Nelson, K.E. Metagenomic analysis of the human distal gut microbiome. Science 312(5778):1355, 2006.

Carlton, J.M., Hirt, R.P., Silva, J.C., Delcher, A.L., Schatz, M., Zhao, Q., Wortman, J.R., Bidwell, S.L., Alsmark, U.C., Besteiro, S., Sicheritz-Ponten, T., Noel, C.J., Dacks, J.B., Foster, P.G., Simillion, C., Van de Peer, Y., Miranda-Saavedra, D., Barton, G.J., Westrop, G.D., Muller, S., Dessi, D., Fiori, P.L., Ren, Q., Paulsen, I., Zhang, H., Bastida-Corcuera, F.D., Simoes-Barbosa, A., Brown, M.T., Hayes, R.D., Mukherjee, M., Okumura, C.Y., Schneider, R., Smith, A.J., Vanacova, S., Villalvazo, M., Haas, B.J., Pertea, M., Feldblyum, T.V., Utterback, T.R., Shu, C.L., Osoegawa, K., deJong, P.J., Hrdy, I., Horvathova, L., Zubacova, Z., Dolezal, P., Malik, S.B., Logsdon, J.M., Henze, K., Gupta, A., Wang, C.C., Dunne, R.L., Upcroft, J.A., Upcroft, P., White, O., Salzberg, S.L., Tang, P., Chiu, C.H., Lee, Y.S., Embley, T.M., Coombs, G.H., Mottram, J.C., Tachezy, J., Fraser-Liggett, C.M., and Johnson, P.J. Draft genome sequence of the sexually transmitted pathogen Trichomonas vaginalis. Science 315: 207-212, 2007.

VanErt, M.N., Easterday, W.R., Simonson, T.S., U'Ren, J.M., Pearson, T., Kenefic, L.J., Busch, J.D., Huynh, L.Y., Dukerich, M., Trim, C.B., Beaudry, J., Welty-Bernard, A., Read, T., Fraser, C.M., Ravel, J., and Keim, P. Strain-specific single-nucleotide polymorphism assays for the Bacillus anthracis Ames strain. J. Clin. Microbiol. 45: 47-53, 2007.




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