Faculty Pages - UF College of Dentistry

Jose Lemos

Oral Biology

Research Assistant Professor
(352) 846-2521
jlemos@dental.ufl.edu

Ph.D., Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
    Microbiology, 1995-2000

M.S., Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
    Microbiology, 1993-1995

B.S.,  Santa Ursula University, Brazil
    Biology, 1987-1990

Main Interests:

In order to survive adverse environmental conditions, bacteria undergo a complex program of differential gene expression that leads to the transient induction of a subset of proteins that protect the cell from damage caused by chemical and physical stresses. Most of these stress proteins are molecular chaperones or proteases that play crucial roles in promoting protein folding, assembly, and degradation during normal growth, and in particular, under stress-inducing conditions. Our laboratory is primarily interested in dissecting the role of stress genes in gene regulation and responses to environmental stresses, with a particular focus on acid tolerance. These studies include the genetic and physiologic characterization of the major molecular chaperones from oral bacteria and the identification of new genes involved in stress tolerance by using proteomics and functional genomics approaches.

Publications:

Lemos, J.A., Brown, T.A. Jr, Abranches J, & Burne, R.A. (2005). Characteristics of Streptococcus mutans strains lacking the MazEF and RelBE toxin-antitoxin modules. FEMS Microbiol Lett, 253(2), 251-257.

Brown, T.A. Jr, Ahn, S.J., Frank, R.N., Chen, Y.Y., Lemos, J.A., & Burne, R.A. (2005). A hypothetical protein of Streptococcus mutans is critical for biofilm formation. Infect Immun, 73(5), 3147-51.

Ahn, S.J., Lemos, J.A., & Burne, R.A. (2005). Role of HtrA in growth and competence of Streptococcus mutans UA159. J Bacteriol, 187(9), 3028-38.

Lemos, J.A., Abranches, J., & Burne, R.A. (2005). Responses of cariogenic streptococci to environmental stresses. Curr Issues Mol Biol., 7(1), 95-107.

Nascimento, M.M., Lemos, J.A., Abranches, J., Goncalves, R.B., & Burne, R.A. (2004). Adaptive acid tolerance response of Streptococcus sobrinus. J Bacteriol, 186(19), 6383-90.

Laport, M.S., Lemos, J.A., Bastos Md Mdo, C., Burne, R.A., & Giambiagi-De Marval, M. (2004). Transcriptional analysis of the groE and dnaK heat-shock operons of Enterococcus faecalis. Res Microbiol, 155(4), 252-8.

Lemos, J.A., Brown, T.A. Jr, & Burne, R.A. (2004). Effects of RelA on key virulence properties of planktonic and biofilm populations of Streptococcus mutans. Infect Immun, 72(3), 1431-40.

Lemos, J.A., & Burne, R.A. (2002). Regulation and Physiological Significance of ClpC and ClpP in Streptococcus mutans. J Bacteriol, 184(22), 6357-66.

Laport, M.S., de Castro, A.C., Villardo, A., Lemos, J.A., Bastos, M.C., & Giambiagi-deMarval, M. (2001). Expression of the major heat shock proteins DnaK and GroEL in Streptococcus pyogenes: a comparison to Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus. Curr Microbiol. 42(4), 264-8.

Lemos, J.A., Burne, R.A., & Castro, A.C. (2000). Molecular cloning, purification and immunological responses of recombinants GroEL and DnaK from Streptococcus pyogenes. FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol, 28(2), 121-8.