Dr Sarah Turner

Science Coordinator, Biodiversity Programme

Research interests and skills

• Bacterial population genetics, molecular evolution, plasmid biology and horizontal gene transfers
• Bioinformatics skills:  phylogenetics, detecting recombination, gene identification and annotation, comparative genomics
• Molecular biology: DNA/RNA isolation, PCR, sequencing, cloning etc.
• Protein purification, enzymology, PAGE, 2D PAGE
• Expert referee: NERC, BBSRC, Microbiology, J General Virology, Plasmid, Applied & Environmental Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology, J Microbiological Methods, FEMs Microbiology Ecology Letters

Publications

See also the NERC Open Research Archive.

Peer reviewed research papers and reviews:

Forrester, NL, Moss, SR, Turner, SL, Schirrmeier, H, Gould, EA (2008) Recombination in rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus: Possible impact on evolution and epidemiology (376, 390 - 6) Virology doi:10.1016/j.virol.2008.03.023.

Slater, FR, Bailey, MJ, Tett, AJ, Turner, SL (In press) Progress towards understanding the fate of plasmids in bacterial communities. FEMs Microbiol. Ecol,  doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2008.00505.x

Slater, FR, Bruce, KD, Ellis, RD, Lilley, AK, Turner, SL. (2008) Heterogeneous selection in a spatially structured environment affects fitness trade offs of plasmid carriage in pseudomonads. Appl. Env Microbbiol. 74(10): 3189-3197.  doi:10.1128/AEM.02383-07

Field, D et al, including Turner, SL. (2008) Towards a richer description if our complete collection of genomes and metagenomes: the minimum information about a genome sequence (MIGS) specification. Nature Biotech, 26, 541 - 547 (2008) doi:10.1038/nbt1360

Tett, A, Spiers, AJ, Crossman, LC, Ager, D, Ciric, L, Dow, JM, Fry, JC, Harris, D, Lilley, A, Oliver, A, Parkhill, J, Quail, MA, Rainey, PB, Saunders, NJ, Seeger, K, Snyder, LAS, Squares, R, Thomas, CM, Turner, SL, Zhang, XX, Field, D, Bailey, MJ. (2007) Sequence-based analysis of pQBR103; a representative of a unique, transfer-proficient mega plasmid resident in the microbial community of sugar beet. The ISME Journal, 1 (4). 331-340. doi:10.1038/ismej.2007.47.

Lilley, AK, Bailey, MJ, Cartwright, C, Turner, SL, Hirsch, PR .(2006) Life in earth: the impact of GM plants on soil ecology? Trends in Biotechnology, 24. 9-14. doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2005.11.005

Forrester, NL, Trout, RC, Turner, SL, Kelly, D, Boag, B, Moss, S, Gould, EA. (2006) Unravelling the paradox of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus emergence, using phylogenetic analysis; possible implications for rabbit conservation strategies. Biological Conservation 131 (2): 296-306

Bell, T, Newman, JA, Silverman, BW, Turner, SL, Lilley, AK (2005) The contribution of species richness and composition to bacterial services. Nature 436 (7054): 1157-1160.

Forrester, NL, Abubakr, ML, Abu Elzein, EME, al-Afaleq, AL, Housawi, FMT, Moss, SR, Turner, SL, Gould, EA. (2006) Phylogenetic analysis of Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus strains from the Arabian Peninsula: Did RHDV emerge simultaneously in Europe and Asia? Virology 344 (2): 277-282.

Mohd-Zain, Z, Turner, SL, Cerdeno-Tarraga, AM, Lilley, AK., Inzana, TJ, Duncan, AJ, Harding, RM, Hood, DW, Peto, TE and Crook, DW. (2004) Transferable Antibiotic Resistance Elements in Haemophilus influenzae Share a Common Evolutionary Origin with a Diverse Family of Syntenic Genomic Islands. J. Bacteriol. 186: 8114-8122.

Gao, J, SL Turner, FL Kan, ET Wang, ZY Tan, YH Qui, Z Terefewok, JPW Young, K Lindstrom and WX Chen. (2004) Mesorhizobium septentrionale sp. nov. and Mesorhizobium temperatum sp. nov., isolated from Astragalus adsurgens growing in northern regions of China. Int. J. Sys. Evol. Microbiol. 54: 2003-2012.

Gould EA, Moss, SR & Turner, SL (2004) Evolution and dispersal of encephalitic flaviviruses. Archives of Virology Supplement 18, 65-84.

Molbak, L, Tett, A, Ussery, DW, Wall, K, Turner, S, Bailey, M, Field, D. (2003) The plasmid genome database. Microbiology-SGM 149: 3043-3045, Part 11.

Forrester NL, Boag B, Moss SR, Turner SL, Trout RC, White PJ, Hudson PJ and Gould EA. (2003) Long-term survival of New Zealand rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus RNA in wild rabbits, revealed by RT-PCR and phylogenetic analysis. J, Gen. Virol. 84: 3079-3086.

Uzcategui, N.Y., G. Comach, D. Camacho, M. Salcedo, M. Cabello De Quintana, M. Jimenez G., Sierra, R. Cuello De Uzcategui, W.S. James, S.L. Turner, E.C. Holmes and E.A. Gould, (2003) The Molecular Epidemiology of Dengue-3 virus in Venezuela. Journal of General Virology 84 (6), 1569-1575.

Van Elsas, J.D., S.L. Turner and M.J. Bailey. (2003) Lateral gene transfer in the phytosphere. New Phytol. 157, 525-537.

Gritsun, T.S., T.V. Frolova, A.I. Zhankov, M.A. Armesto, S.L. Turner, M.P. Frolova, V.V. Pogodina, V.A. Lashkevichl, and E.A.Gould. (2003) Characterisation of a Siberian virus, isolated from a patient with progressive chronic tick-borne encephalitis. J. Virology 77, 25-36.

Manefield, M.J. and S.L. Turner. (2002) Quorum sensing in context: Out of molecular biology and into microbial ecology. Microbiology 148, 3762-3764.

Husband, R., S.L. Turner, A.E. Herre and J.P.W. Young.  (2002) Molecular diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and patterns of host association over time and space in a tropical forest. Mol. Ecol. 11, 2669-2678.

Moss, S.R., S.L. Turner and E.A. Gould. (2002) Molecular epidemiology of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus. J. Gen. Virol. 83, 2461-2467. 

Turner, S.L., K.A.L. Knight, and J.P.W. Young. (2002)  Functional analysis rhizobial plasmid origins of transfer. FEMs Microbiol. Ecol. 42, 227-234.

Turner, S.L., A.K. Lilley and M.J. Bailey. (2002) Description of a novel origin of replication from pQBR55 an exogenously isolated plasmid from the rhizosphere of sugar beet. FEMs Microbiol. Ecol. 42, 209-215.

Turner, S.L., M.J. Bailey, A.K. Lilley and C.M. Thomas.  (2002) Ecological and molecular maintenance strategies of mobile genetic elements. FEMs Microbiol. Ecol. 42, 177-185.

Turner, S.L., X.X. Zhang, F.D. Li and J.P.W. Young. (2002) What does a bacterial genome sequence represent? Microbiology 148, 3330-3331.

Gaunt, M.W., S.L. Turner, L. Rigottier-Gois, S. Lloyd-MacGilp and J.P.W. Young. (2001) Phylogenies of atpD and recA support the SSU rRNA-based classification of rhizobia. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 51, 2037-2048.

Darby, A.C., L.M. Birkle, S.L. Turner and A.E. Douglas. (2001) An aphid-borne bacterium allied to the secondary symbionts of whitefly.  FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 36, 43-50.

Zhang, X.X., S.L. Turner, X.W. Guo, H.J. Yang, F. Debelle, G.P. Yang, J. Denarie, J.P.W. Young, F.D. Li (2000) The common nodulation genes of Astragalus sinicus rhizobia are conserved in contrast to chromosomal diversity. Appl. Env. Microbiol. 66; 2988-2995.

Palmer, K.M., S.L. Turner and J.P.W. Young. (2000)  Sequence diversity of the plasmid replication gene repC in the Rhizobiaceae. Plasmid 44, 209-219.

Heuer, H., K. Smalla. W. Dejonghe, E. Top, M. Osborn, J. Niewint, C. Tebbe, M. Barr, M. Bailey, A. Greated, C. Thomas, S. Turner, P. Young, D. Nikolakopoulou, A. Karangouni, A. Wolters, J. D. van Elsas, K. Dronen, R. Sandaa, P. Sobecky, S. Borin, J. Brabhu and E. Grohmann. (2000) PCR detection of mobile genetic elements on total community DNA. Microbiology 146, 1256-1257.

Turner, S.L. and J.P.W. Young. (2000) The glutamine synthetases of rhizobia: phylogenetics and evolutionary implications. Mol. Biol. Evol. 17; 309-319.

Rigottier-Gois, L., S.L. Turner, N. Amarger and J.P.W. Young. (1998) Distribution of repC plasmid-replication sequences among field isolates of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae. Microbiology 144; 771-780.

Guest, J.R., M.M. Attwood, R.S. Machado, Y.M. Matiq, J.E. Shaw, and S.L. Turner. (1997) Enzymological and physiological consequences of restructuring the lipoyl domain content of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex of Escherichia coli. Microbiology 143; 457-466.

Turner, S.L., L. Rigottier-Gois, R.S. Power, N. Amarger and J.P.W. Young. (1996) Diversity of repC plasmid-replication sequences in Rhizobium leguminosarum. Microbiology 142; 1705-1713.

Turner, S.L. and J.P.W. Young. (1995) The replicator region of Rhizobium leguminosarum cryptic plasmid pRL8JI. FEMS Microbiol. Letts. 133; 53-58.

Turner, S.L., G.C. Russell, M.P. Williamson and J.R. Guest. (1993) Restructuring an inter-domain linker in the dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase component of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex of Escherichia coli.  Protein Engineering 6; 101-108.

Turner, S.L., G.C. Ford, A. Mountain and A. Moir. (1992) Selection of a thermostable variant of chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (Cat-86). Protein Engineering 5; 535-541.