Address:
University of Waterloo
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, ON, Canada
N2L 3G1

Contact:
Phone: 519.888.4567 x35606
Fax: 519.746.0614
E-mail:  tcharles@uwaterloo.ca

Link to a website:
http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~tcharles/

Research Areas:

1) Use of molecular genetic tools in the investigation of gene function and transcriptional regulation in bacteria.
2) Understanding the mechanisms of bacterial interactions with host organisms.
3) Isolation of genes from complex microbial communities by functional screening of metagenomic libraries.

Most of this research takes place in Sinorhizobium meliloti and related alphaproteobacterial systems. New research initiatives in synthetic biology include the development of novel methods for in vivo chromosome engineering, the production of bioplastics and other bioproducts in alternate alphaproteobacterial hosts, and generation of gene expression control circuits based on novel quorum sensing genes isolated from metagenomic libraries.