Research Interests

• Host-parasite interactions
• Microbial pathogenesis and vaccine development
• Microbial diversity and evolution
• Proteomics and protein structure
• Molecular test development

Background

Cheryl Jenkins holds a doctoral degree in Microbiology from the University of Queensland.  In 2003, she completed her post-doctoral training at the University of Washington (Seattle) in microbial evolution and diversity and returned to Australia to work in the field of agricultural research. She was awarded an Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship (Industry) in 2004 and worked as an Associate Research Fellow at the University of Wollongong until 2007. At that time, Cheryl joined the NSW Department of Primary Industries as a research scientist and was awarded a Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Science and Innovation Award for Young People to work on host-parasite interactions in M. hyopneumoniae infection.

Qualifications

• BSc. (Hons I)
• PhD (University of Qld)

Current projects

• Development of a subunit vaccine for Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae
• Structural and functional characterisation of virulence factors from Mycoplasma gallisepticum
• Molecular investigations into the cause of winter mortality disease of Saccostrea glomerata (Sydney rock oyster) 
• Molecular testing and phylogenetic analysis of wasp parasitoids of the Qld fruit fly
• Epidemiological survey and development of a diagnostic test for bovine theileriosis.

Recent publications

Seymour, L. M., Deutscher, A. T., Jenkins, C., Kuit, T. A., Falconer, L., Minion, F. C., Crosset, B., Padula, M., Dixon, N. E., Djordjevic, S. P. and Walker, M. J. (2010) A processed multi-domain Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae adhesin binds fibronectin, plasminogen and swine respiratory cilia. J. Biol. Chem. 285: 33971-8.

Deutscher, A. T., Jenkins, C., Minion, F. C., Padula, M., Seymour, L. M., Dixon, N. E, Walker, M. J. and Djordjevic, S. P. (2010). Repeat regions R1 and R2 in the P97 paralog Mhp271 of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae bind heparin, fibronectin and porcine cilia. Mol. Micro. 78: 444-58.

Wilton JL, Jenkins C, Cordwell SJ, Falconer L, Minion FC, Oneal DC, Djordjevic MA, Connolly A, Barchia I, Walker MJ and Djordjevic SP (2009) Mhp493 (P216) is a proteolytically processed cilium and heparin binding protein of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. Mol. Micro. 71: 566-82.

Jenkins C, Samudrala R, Geary SJ and Djordjevic SP (2008) Structural and functional characterization of an organic hydroperoxide resistance (Ohr) protein from Mycoplasma gallisepticum. J. Bact. 190: 2260-16.
 
Jenkins C, Geary SJ, Gladd M and Djordjevic SP (2007) The Mycoplasma gallisepticum OsmC-like protein MG1142 resides on the cell surface and binds heparin. Microbiology 153: 1455-1463.

Schlesner H, Jenkins C and Staley JT (2007) Phylum Verrucomicrobia: A phylogenetically heterogeneous bacterial group. In M. Dworkin et al., (eds) The Prokaryotes 3rd Edition. Springer, New York, USA. 

Oertli G, Jenkins C, Ward NL, Rainey FA, Stackebrandt E and Staley JT (2007) The Genera Prosthecomicrobium and Ancalomicrobium.  In M. Dworkin et al., (eds) The Prokaryotes 3rd Edition. Springer, New York, USA. 

Jenkins C, Wilton JL, Minion FC, Falconer L, Walker MJ and Djordjevic SP (2006)  Identification of heparin-binding regions within the cilium adhesin (P97) of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. Infect Immun 74: 481-487.

Staley JT, Bouzek H and Jenkins C (2005) Eukaryotic signature proteins of Prosthecobacter dejongeii and Gemmata sp. Wa1-1 as revealed by in silico analysis. FEMS Microbiol Lett 243: 9-14.

Jenkins C, Rainey FA, Ward NL and Staley JT (2005) Prosthecomicrobium. In G. Garrity (ed.), Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, 2nd Edition. Springer, New York, USA.

Jenkins C and Staley JT (2005) Ancalomicrobium. In G. Garrity (ed.), Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, 2nd Edition. Springer, New York, USA.

Staley JT, Jenkins C and Konopka AE (2005) Ancylobacter. In G. Garrity (ed.), Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, 2nd Edition. Springer, New York, USA.

Chistoserdova L, Jenkins C, Kalyuzhnaya M, Marx CJ, Lapidus A, Vorholt JA, Staley J, and Lidstrom ME (2004) The enigmatic planctomycetes may hold a key to the origins of methanogenesis and methylotrophy. Mol Biol Evol 21: 1234-41.

Jenkins C, Samudrala R, Anderson I, Hedlund BP, Petroni G, Michailova N, Pinel N, Overbeek R, Rosati G and Staley JT (2002) Genes for the protein tubulin discovered in members of the bacterial genus, Prosthecobacter. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 99: 17049-17054.

Jenkins C, Kedar V and Fuerst JA (2002) Gene discovery within the planctomycete division of Domain Bacteria using sequence tags from genomic DNA libraries. Genome Biol  3: research0031.

Wang J, Jenkins C, Webb RI and Fuerst JA (2002) Isolation of Gemmata-like and Isosphaera-like planctomycete bacteria from soil and freshwater. Appl Env Microbiol 68: 417-422.

Jenkins C and Fuerst JA (2001) Phylogenetic analysis of evolutionary relationships of the planctomycete division of the domain Bacteria based on amino acid sequences of elongation factor-Tu. J Mol Evol 52: 405-418.