Steve Finkel

Steven E. Finkel Associate Professor of Biological Sciences  Contact Information  E-mail: sfinkel@usc.edu  Phone: (213) 821-1498  Office: RRI 319B

Education

B.A. Molecular Biology, University of California, Berkeley, 1987

Ph.D. Biological Chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, 1994

Postdoctoral Training

Helen Hay Whitney Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, 1994-1999

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History

Deputy Director, USC Center for Excellence in Genomic Science, USC, 2009-

ASM Branch Lecturer, American Society for Microbiology, 2009-

Fellow, USC Center for Excellence in Teaching, 2009-

Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, 2007-

Member, USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, 2000-

Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, 2000-2007

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests

Reseach in Professor Finkel’s laboratory focuses on the long-term survival and evolution of bacteria, including understanding natural systems and applications to electricity production. Among the topics of current study in the laboratory are (1) the mechanisms of survival in many organisms, including population structure at the genetic & genomic level and studies of the GASP (growth advantage in stationary phase) phenotype; (2) the generation of bacterial diversity in different environments, including the roles of error-prone DNA polymerases in generating diversity; (3) the role of DNA-protein interactions in controlling gene expression, organizing the chromosome, and protecting DNA during the stationary phase of the bacterial lifecycle, focusing on the role of the Dps protein, (4) the use of DNA as a nutrient and parallels to natural competence and transformation; and (5) the long-term survival ability of bacteria in electricity-generating microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Model organisms in the laboratory include: Escherichia coli, Shewanella oneidensis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Streptococcus mutans.

Affiliations with Research Centers, Labs, and Other Institutions

Alzheimer's Disease Research Center,http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/ADRC/

Center for Deep Energy Biosphere Investigations,http://www.darkenergybiosphere.org/

Center of Excellence in Genomic Science, Deputy Director,http://cegs.cmb.usc.edu/

Dark Energy Biosphere Institute-Research Coordination Network,http://www.darkenergybiosphere.org/

USC Geobiology,http://geobiology.usc.edu/

USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center,http://ccnt.usc.edu

Publications

Book Chapter

Finkel, S. E., Zinser, E., Kolter, R. (2000). Long-term survival and evolution in stationary phase. pp. p. 231-238. Bacterial Stress Responses/ASM.

Finkel, S. E., Zinser, E., Gupta, S., Kolter, R. (1998). Life and Death in Stationary Phase. (Vol. 103). pp. 3-16. NATO-ASI Series, Series H: Cell Biology/Springer-Verlag.

Journal Article

Biffinger, J., Fitzgerald, L., Ray, R., Little, B., Lizewski, S., Petersen, E., Ringeisen, B., Sanders, W., Sheehan, P., Pietron, J., Baldwin, J., Nadeau, L., Johnson, G., Ribbens, M., Finkel, S. E., Nealson, K. H. (2011). The utility of Shewanella japonica for microbial fuel cells. Bioresour. Technol.. Vol. 102, pp. 290-297.

Pepper, E. D., Farrell, M. J., Nord, G., Finkel, S. E. (2010). Anti-glycation effects of carnosine and other compounds on long-term survival of Escherichia coli. Appl. Environ.Microbiol.. Vol. 76, pp. 7925-7930.

Gondakis, S., Finkel, S. E., Longo, V. D. (2010). Genome-wide screen identifies Escherichia coli TCA-cycle-related mutants with extended chronological lifespan dependent on acetate metabolism and the hypoxia-inducible transcription factor ArcA. Aging Cell. Vol. 9, pp. 868-881.

Gonidakis, S., Finkel, S. E., Longo, V. D. (2010). E. coli hypoxia-inducible factor ArcA mediates lifespan extension in a lipoic acid synthase mutant by suppressing acetyle-CoA synthetase. Biol. Chem.. Vol. 391, pp. 1139-1147.

Palchevskiy, V., Finkel, S. E. (2009). A role for single-stranded exonucleases in the use of DNA as a nutrient. J. Bacteriol.. Vol. 191, pp. 3712-3716.

Biffinger, J. C., Ray, R., Little, B. J., Fitzgerald, L. A., Ribbens, M. A., Finkel, S. E., Ringeisen, B. R. (2009). Simultaneous analysis of physiological and electrical output changes in an operating microbial fuel cell with Shewanella oneidensis. Biotechnol. Bioeng.. Vol. 103, pp. 524-531.

Kraigsley, A., Finkel, S. E. (2009). Adaptive evolution in single species biofilms. FEMS Microbiology Letters. Vol. 293, pp. 135-140.

Ren, C., Finkel, S. E., Tower, J. (2009). Conditional inhibition of autophagy genes in adult Drosophila impairs immunity without compromising longevity. Exp. Gerontol.. Vol. 44, pp. 228-235.

Biffinger, J., Ribbens, M., Pietron, J., Finkel, S. E., Nealson, K. (2009). Characterization of electrochemically active bacteria (EAB) utilizing a high-throughput voltage-based screening assay. Biotechnol. Bioeng.. Vol. 102, pp. 436-444.

Kumari, A., Minko, I. G., Harbut, B., Finkel, S. E., Goodman, M. F., Lloyd, R. S. (2008). Replication bypass of interstrand crosslink intermediates by Escherichia coli DNA polymerase IV. J. Biol. Chem.. Vol. 283, pp. 27433-27437.

Ren, C., Webster, P., Finkel, S. E., Tower, J. (2007). Increased internal and external bacterial load during Drosophila aging without life span trade-off. Cell Metabolism. Vol. 6, pp. 144-152.

Skvortsov, D., Abdueva, D., Stitzer, M. E., Finkel, S. E., Tavaré, S. (2007). Using expression arrays for copy number detection: an example from E. coli. BMC Bioinformatics. Vol. 8, pp. 203.

Stevens, M. H., Sanchez, M., Lee, J., Finkel, S. E. (2007). Diversification rates increase with population size and resource concentration in an unstructured habitat. Genetics. Vol. 177, pp. 2243-2250.

Pepper, E. D., Farrell, M. J., Finkel, S. E. (2006). Role of penicillin binding protein 1b in competitive stationary phase survival and antibiotic resistance. FEMS Microbiology Letters. Vol. 263, pp. 61-67.

Finkel, S. E. (2006). Long-term survival during stationary phase: Evolution and the GASP phenotype. Nature Reviews Microbiology. Vol. 4, pp. 113-120.

Finkel, S. E., Petrie, A., Erbe, J. (2005). Use of long-term E. coli cultures to study generation of genetic diversity and teach general microbiology laboratory skills. American Biology Teacher. pp. p.87-92.

Nair, S., Finkel, S. E. (2004). Dps protects cells against multiple stresses during stationary phase. Journal of Bacteriology/ASM. Vol. 186, pp. 4192-4198.

Farrell, M. J., Finkel, S. E. (2003). The growth advantage in stationary phase phenotype conferred by rpoS mutations is dependent on pH and nutrient source. Journal of Bacteriology/ASM. Vol. 185, pp. 7044-7052.

Yeiser, B., Pepper, E. D., Goodman, M. F., Finkel, S. E. (2002). SOS-induced DNA polymerases enhance long-term survival and evolutionary fitness. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. Vol. 99, pp. 8737-8741.

Finkel, S. E., Kolter, R. (2001). DNA as a nutrient: A novel role for bacterial competence gene homologs. J. Bacteriol.. Vol. 183, pp. 6288-6293.

Finkel, S. E., Kolter, R. (1999). Evolution of microbial diversity during prolonged starvation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. Vol. 96, pp. 4023-4027.

Multimedia Scholarship and Creative Works

Mentor, USC-IML Certificate Program, 2007-2008

Honors and Awards

NIH/NSF Career Development Award, NSF Faculty Early Career Award, 2003-2009

USC-Mellon Award for Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduates, 2007-2008

Visiting Scholar Award, Alberta Heritage Foundation for Research, 2004-2005

Service to the Profession

Editorships and Editorial Boards

Editorial Board, Journal of Bacteriology, 2010-

Editorial Board, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2008-

Section Editor, EcoSal: Escherichia coli and Salmonella Cellular & Molecular Biology, 2003-

Editor, Biochemical Journal, 2006-2009

Professional Memberships

The Biochemical Society (U.K), 2007-

American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2000-

American Society for Microbiology, 1987-