About

Jonathan Olson is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Undergraduate Program in Microbiology within the Department of Biological Sciences at NC State University. His research focuses on antimicrobial resistance, specifically examining the propensity of different antimicrobial resistance determinants to be disseminated via transformation in Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli. His work also explores the interaction of copper toxicity and oxidative stress in Campylobacter jejuni, as well as the identification of methyltransferases targeting adenines at GATC sites in Campylobacter coli. Olson's research contributes to understanding the mechanisms underlying antimicrobial resistance and bacterial survival, with implications for public health and microbial genetics.

Research topics

• Biology
• Microbiology
• Genetics

Selected publications

• Differences in the Propensity of Different Antimicrobial Resistance Determinants to Be Disseminated via Transformation in Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli

  Microorganisms · 2022 · 4 citations

  • Microbiology
  • Biology
  • Genetics

  ) than with SN:CM. Findings from this experimental model provide insights into factors that may impact transformation-mediated transfer of AMR leading to AMR dissemination in the agricultural ecosystem.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Interaction of Copper Toxicity and Oxidative Stress in Campylobacter jejuni

  Journal of Bacteriology · 2018-08-22 · 12 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Copper is a required micronutrient for most aerobic organisms, but it is universally toxic at elevated levels. These organisms use homeostatic mechanisms that allow for cells to acquire enough of the element to sustain metabolic requirements while ensuring that lethal levels cannot build up in the cell. Campylobacter jejuni is an important foodborne pathogen that typically makes its way into the food chain through contaminated poultry. C. jejuni has a metabolic requirement for copper and encodes a copper detoxification system. In the course of studying this system, we have learned that it is important for avian colonization. We have also gained insight into how copper exerts its toxic effects in C. jejuni by promoting oxidative stress.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Em busca de legitimidade: os estudiosos pentecostais norte-americanos e os dilemas da carreira acadêmica

  REVER - Revista de Estudos da Religião · 2017-08-24

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  No tempo presente, os estudiosos pentecostais estão começando dar notáveis contribuições para os campos mais amplos da Teologia, História da Igreja e estudos bíblicos. Embora muitos desses estudiosos ainda permaneçam na periferia da academia americana, eles formam a espinha dorsal de uma subcultura intelectual florescente. Este artigo utiliza os métodos quantitativo e qualitativo para reunir dados sobre algumas das vozes mais formativas dessa subcultura. Argumenta-se que muitos desses indivíduos parecem ocupar um espaço intersticial repleto de apreensão e incerteza, onde cada um deve negociar como buscar maior legitimidade no bojo da comunidade acadêmica sem, de alguma forma, perder parte da sua identidade pentecostal. O artigo conclui refletindo sobre o que o sociólogo Peter Berger denominou como estruturas de plausibilidade - um quadro teórico que possa conduzir a alguns insights sobre o futuro da comunidade acadêmica pentecostal nos Estados Unidos e alhures.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Apostles of Commerce

  2017-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

• Complete Genome Sequence of Campylobacter jejuni subsp. <i>jejuni</i> ATCC 35925

  Genome Announcements · 2017-07-27 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  ABSTRACT Here, we report the complete genome sequence of Campylobacter jejuni ATCC 35925, an avian isolate from Sweden. The genome gives insight into the ATCC 35925 strain’s remarkable ability to tolerate copper and its permissiveness to plasmid transformation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Novel plasmid conferring kanamycin and tetracycline resistance in the turkey-derived Campylobacter jejuni strain 11601MD

  Plasmid · 2016-06-05 · 21 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Whole-Genome Sequences of Agricultural, Host-Associated <i>Campylobacter coli</i> and <i>Campylobacter jejuni</i> Strains

  Genome Announcements · 2016-08-19 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  We report here the genome sequences of four agricultural, multidrug-resistant Campylobacter spp.: C. coli 11601 and C. jejuni 11601MD, isolated from turkey cecum and jejunum, respectively, and C. coli 6067 and C. coli 6461, isolated from turkey-house water and swine feces, respectively. The genomes provide insights on Campylobacter antimicrobial resistance and host adaptations.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Identification of a <i>Campylobacter coli</i> methyltransferase targeting adenines at GATC sites

  FEMS Microbiology Letters · 2016-11-19

  articleOpen access

  Campylobacter coli can infect humans and colonize multiple other animals, but its host-associated genes or adaptations are poorly understood. Adenine methylation at GATC sites, resulting in MboI resistance of genomic DNA, was earlier frequently detected among C. coli from swine but not among turkey-derived isolates. The underlying genetic basis has remained unknown. Comparative genome sequence analyses of C. coli 6461, a swine-derived strain with MboI-resistant DNA, revealed two chromosomal ORFs, 0059 and 0060, encoding a putative DNA methyltransferase and a conserved hypothetical protein, respectively, which were lacking from the genome of the turkey-derived C. coli strain 11601, which had MboI-susceptible DNA. To determine whether ORF0059 mediated MboI resistance and hence encoded a putative N6-adenine DNA methyltransferase, the gene was cloned immediately upstream of a chloramphenicol resistance cassette (cat) and a PCR fragment harboring ORF0059-cat was transformed into C. coli 11601. The transformants had MboI-resistant DNA, suggesting a direct role of this gene in methylation of adenines at GATC sites. In silico analyses suggested that the ORF0059-ORF0060 cassette was more frequent among C. coli from swine than certain other sources (e.g. cattle, humans). Potential impacts of ORF0059-mediated methylation on C. coli host preference and other adaptations remain to be elucidated.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Aerobic Hydrogen Production via Nitrogenase in Azotobacter vinelandii CA6

  Applied and Environmental Microbiology · 2015-04-25 · 29 citations

  articleOpen access

  The diazotroph Azotobacter vinelandii possesses three distinct nitrogenase isoenzymes, all of which produce molecular hydrogen as a by-product. In batch cultures, A. vinelandii strain CA6, a mutant of strain CA, displays multiple phenotypes distinct from its parent: tolerance to tungstate, impaired growth and molybdate transport, and increased hydrogen evolution. Determining and comparing the genomic sequences of strains CA and CA6 revealed a large deletion in CA6's genome, encompassing genes related to molybdate and iron transport and hydrogen reoxidation. A series of iron uptake analyses and chemostat culture experiments confirmed iron transport impairment and showed that the addition of fixed nitrogen (ammonia) resulted in cessation of hydrogen production. Additional chemostat experiments compared the hydrogen-producing parameters of different strains: in iron-sufficient, tungstate-free conditions, strain CA6's yields were identical to those of a strain lacking only a single hydrogenase gene. However, in the presence of tungstate, CA6 produced several times more hydrogen. A. vinelandii may hold promise for developing a novel strategy for production of hydrogen as an energy compound.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The impairment of methylmenaquinol:fumarate reductase affects hydrogen peroxide susceptibility and accumulation in <i> <scp>C</scp> ampylobacter jejuni </i>

  MicrobiologyOpen · 2014-02-07 · 18 citations

  articleOpen access

  The methylmenaquinol:fumarate reductase (Mfr) of Campylobacter jejuni is a periplasmic respiratory (redox) protein that contributes to the metabolism of fumarate and displays homology to succinate dehydrogenase (Sdh). Since chemically oxidized redox-enzymes, including fumarate reductase and Sdh, contribute to the generation of oxidative stress in Escherichia coli, we assessed the role of Mfr in C. jejuni after exposure to hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ). Our results show that a Mfr mutant (∆mfrA) strain was less susceptible to H2 O2 as compared to the wildtype (WT). Furthermore, the H2 O2 concentration in the ∆mfrA cultures was significantly higher than that of WT after exposure to the oxidant. In the presence of H2 O2 , catalase (KatA) activity and katA expression were significantly lower in the ∆mfrA strain as compared to the WT. Exposure to H2 O2 resulted in a significant decrease in total intracellular iron in the ∆mfrA strain as compared to WT, while the addition of iron to the growth medium mitigated H2 O2 susceptibility and accumulation in the mutant. The ∆mfrA strain was significantly more persistent in RAW macrophages as compared to the WT. Scanning electron microscopy showed that infection with the ∆mfrA strain caused prolonged changes to the macrophages' morphology, mainly resulting in spherical-shaped cells replete with budding structures and craters. Collectively, our results suggest a role for Mfr in maintaining iron homeostasis in H2 O2 stressed C. jejuni, probably via affecting the concentrations of intracellular iron.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Robert J. Maier

  University of Georgia

  16 shared

• Eric Altermann

  12 shared

• Sophia Kathariou

  North Carolina State University

  6 shared

• Nalini Mehta

  University of Georgia

  4 shared

• Michael E. Taveirne

  North Carolina State University

  4 shared

• Adriana A. Olczak

  University of Georgia

  4 shared

• William G. Miller

  United States Department of Agriculture

  3 shared

• Maria D. Crespo

  North Carolina State University

  3 shared

Labs

• Department of Biological SciencesPI