David Gordon

Group membership

I received my BSc from King's College, London and my PhD from McGill University, Montreal.

Research interests

My research focuses on the ecology and evolution of bacteria and their accessory genetic elements. My approach to research integrates mathematical theory with empirical results derived from prospective and experimental studies. My research takes a top-down as well as a bottom-up approach and uses methods and techniques from ecology, evolution, genetics, physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. Whilst much of my research is basic research, a significant portion is of applied significance and directly addresses applied problems. Although there are three main themes to my ongoing and future research these are highly interrelated.

Research themes

  1. Functional role and evolution of bacteriocins
  2. The ecology and evolution of the Enterobacteriaceae
  3. The ecology and evolution of plasmids. 

Selected publications

  • Blyton, Michaela D. J.; Banks, Sam C.; Peakall, Rod; et al. Functional genotypes are associated with commensal Escherichia coli strain abundance within-host individuals and populations,Molecular Ecology, 22(15) 4112-4122.
  • Blyton, Michaela D. J.; Banks, Sam C.; Peakall, Rod; et al. High temporal variability in commensal Escherichia coli strain communities of a herbivorous marsupial,Environmental Microbiology 15(8) 2162-2172.
  • Clermont, O, Christenson, J, Denamur, E et al 2013, 'The Clermont Escherichia coli phylo-typing method revisited: Improvement of specificity and detection of new phylo-groups', Environmental Microbiology Reports, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 58-65.
  • Bull, C, Godfrey, S & Gordon, D 2012, 'Social networks and the spread of Salmonella in a sleepy lizard population', Molecular Ecology, vol. 21, pp. 4386-4392.
  • Snyder, E, Gordon, D & Stoebel, D 2012, 'Escherichia coli Lacking RpoS Are Rare in Natural Populations of Non-Pathogens', G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, vol. 2, pp. 1341-1344.
  • Kluytmans, J, Overdevest, I, Willemsen, I et al 2012, 'Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli From Retail Chicken Meat and Humans: Comparison of Strains, Plasmids, Resistance Genes, and Virulence Factors', Clinical Infectious Diseases, pp. Published online: 4 December 2012.
  • Abraham, S, Abraham, S, Gordon, D et al 2012, 'Molecular characterization of commensal Escherichia coli adapted to different compartments of the porcine gastrointestinal tract', Applied and Environmental Microbiology, vol. 78, no. 19, pp. 6799-6803. O'Brien, C & Gordon, D 2011, 'Effect of diet and gut dynamics on the establishment and persistence of Escherichia coli', Microbiology (UK), vol. 157, pp. 1375-1384.
  • Luo, C, Walk, S, Gordon, D et al 2011, 'Genome sequencing of environmental Escherichia coli expands understanding of the ecology and speciation of the model bacterial species', PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 108, no. 17, pp. 7200-7205.
  • Parsons, S, Bull, C & Gordon, D 2011, 'Substructure within Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica Isolates from Australian Wildlife', Applied and Environmental Microbiology, vol. 77, no. 9, pp. 3151-3153.
  • Ingle, D, Clermont, O, Skurnik, D et al 2011, 'Biofilm Formation by and Thermal Niche and Virulence Characteristics of Escherichia spp.', Applied and Environmental Microbiology, vol. 77, no. 8, pp. 2695-2700.
  • Clermont, O, Gordon, D, Brisse, S et al 2011, 'Characterization of the cryptic Escherichia lineages: Rapid identification and prevalence', Environmental Microbiology, vol. 13, no. 9, pp. 2468-2477.
  • Alm, E, Walk, S & Gordon, D 2011, 'The niche of Escherichia coli', in Seth T. Walk and Peter C.H. Feng (ed.), Population Genetics of Bacteria: A Tribute to Thomas S. Whittam, ASM Press, United States of America, pp. 69-89.
  • Johnson, J, Menard, M, Lauderdale, T et al 2011, 'Global Distribution and Epidemiologic Associations of Escherichia coli Clonal Group A, 1998-2007', Emerging Infectious Diseases, vol. 17, no. 11, pp. 2001-2009.

Selected publications