Dr Jonathan Thomas is a lecturer in the Department of Biology at the University of Bolton, whose research focuses on the population genetics of Gram-positive bacteria, in particular, coagulase-negative staphylococci, as well as Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Prior to joining the university, Dr Thomas completed his PhD at Imperial College, London, before moving on to postdoctoral research positions at both Yale University and the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). His postdoctoral work at Yale University related to the identification of pneumococcal genetic factors involved in host tissue-specific infections, while at UMMC Dr Thomas’ study was directed towards the detection of signatures of balancing selection throughout Gram-positive bacterial genomes.

He joined the University of Bolton as a lecturer in Biology in 2013. Dr Thomas currently contributes to the modules Molecular Evolution and The Molecular Basis of Life.

Current research interests

Population genetics of coagulase-negative staphylococci.
Population structure and genomic diversity of Staphylococcus epidermidis.
Genetic factors involved in S. epidermidis’ ability to cause disease.
Selected recent publications

Thomas JC, Zhang L, Robinson DA (2013) Differing Lifestyles of Staphylococcus epidermidis as Revealed through Bayesian Clustering of Multilocus Sequence Types. Infect Genet Evol. In Press.

Zhang L, Thomas JC, Miragaia M, Chavez F, d’Azevedo PA, de Lencastre H, Gray BM, Robinson DA (2013) Multilocus Sequence Typing and Further Genetic Characterization of the Enigmatic Pathogen, Staphylococcus hominis . PLoS One 8(6):e66496.

Zhang L, Thomas JC, Didelot X, Robinson DA (2012) Molecular Signatures Identify a Candidate Target of Balancing Selection in an arcD -like Gene of Staphylococcus epidermidis. J Mol Evol. 75(1-2):43-54.

Thomas JC, Godfrey PA, Feldgarden M, Robinson DA (2012) Candidate Targets of Balancing Selection in the Genome of Staphylococcus aureus. Mol Biol Evol. 29(4):1175-86.

Thomas JC, Figueira M, Fennie KP, Laufer AS, Kong Y, Pichichero ME, Pelton SI, Pettigrew MM (2011) Streptococcus pneumoniae Clonal Complex 199: Genetic Diversity and Tissue-Specific Virulence. PLoS One 6(4):e18649.

Laufer AS, Thomas JC, Figueira M, Gent JF, Pelton SI, Pettigrew MM (2010) Capacity of serotype 19A and 15B/C Streptococcus pneumoniae Isolates for Experimental Otitis Media: Implications for Conjugate Vaccine. Vaccine 28(12):2450-7.

Miragaia M, Carriço JA, Thomas JC, Couto I, Enright MC, de Lencastre H (2008) Comparison of Molecular Typing Methods for Characterization of Staphylococcus epidermidis: Proposal for Clone Definition. J Clin Microbiol. 46(1):118-29.

Miragaia M, Thomas JC, Couto I, Enright MC, de Lencastre H (2007) Inferring a Population Structure for S. epidermidis From Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) Data. J Bacteriol. 189(6):2540-52.

Thomas JC, Vargas MR, Miragaia M, Peacock SJ, Archer GL, Enright MC (2007) An Improved Multilocus Sequence Typing Scheme for Staphylococcus epidermidis. J Clin Microbiol. 45(2):616-9.