Kropinski | Biomedical and Molecular Sciences | School of Medicine

Andrew M. Kropinski PhD

Position(s)

Emeritus Professor

Contact Info

kropinsk@queensu.ca

Phage.Canada@gmail.com

Faculty Bio

Current Positions:

Adjunct Professor, Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, ON

Adjunct Professor, Food Science, University of Guelph, ON

Viral Advisory Committee, National Center for Biotechnology Information, Bethesda, MD

Elected member, Marine Biological Laboratory "MBL Society"

Honorary Foreign Member, Georgian National Academy of Sciences

Research Interests

The study of bacterial viruses (bacteriophages, phages) has been my life’s work. My 50-year career evolved from characterizing novel nucleic acid bases, to isolating and characterizing phages for Pseudomonas aeruginosa (with the goal of understanding the structure of lipopolysaccharides), to developing phage-based vector systems for cloning in Pseudomonas. My most recent research on controlling foodborne pathogens with phages involves collaborations with national and international partners in academe, industry, and government. These efforts have led to the sequencing and annotation of >200 complete bacteriophage genomes, and to a leadership role in the taxonomic classification of bacterial viruses.

Two factors have been transformative to my career. The first was my association with the Microbial Diversity summer course at the Marine Biological Laboratory (Woods Hole, MA), which inspired the development of a highly successful course on microbial diversity at Queen’s University. The second was a sabbatical and post-retirement career as a senior research scientist with the Public Health Agency of Canada (2005-2014), which allowed me to assume a leadership role in the sequencing of several hundred bacterial foodborne pathogens – particularly Salmonella.

I am currently enjoying a second-post retirement at the University of Guelph, where I am collaborating on the sequencing, assembly and annotation of bacterial and viral pathogens of swine, horses and fish. I’m also continuing my research on bacteriophage.

Selected Publications

A. Recent research publications: (PubMed link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Kropinski+A)

Barylski J, Enault F, Dutilh BE, Schuller MB, Edwards RA, Gillis A, Klumpp J, Knezevic P, Krupovic M, Kuhn JH, Lavigne R, Oksanen HM, Sullivan MB, Jang HB, Simmonds P, Aiewsakun P, Wittmann J, Tolstoy I, Brister JR, Kropinski AM, Adriaenssens EM. Analysis of spounaviruses as a case study for the overdue reclassification of tailed phages. Syst Biol. 2020 Jan 1;69(1):110-123. doi: 10.1093/sysbio/syz036. PubMed PMID: 31127947.
Korf IHE, Meier-Kolthoff JP, Adriaenssens EM, Kropinski AM, Nimtz M, Rohde M, van Raaij MJ, Wittmann J. Still something to discover: Novel insights into Escherichia coli phage diversity and taxonomy. Viruses. 2019 May 17;11(5). pii: E454. doi: 10.3390/v11050454. PubMed PMID: 31109012...
Bin Jang H, Bolduc B, Zablocki O, Kuhn JH, Roux S, Adriaenssens EM, Brister JR, Kropinski AM, Krupovic M, Lavigne R, Turner D, Sullivan MB. Taxonomic assignment of uncultivated prokaryotic virus genomes is enabled by gene-sharing networks. Nat Biotechnol. 2019 Jun;37(6):632-639. doi: 10.1038/s41587-019-0100-8. Epub 2019 May 6. PubMed PMID: 31061483.
Aiewsakun P, Adriaenssens EM, Lavigne R, Kropinski AM, Simmonds P. Evaluation of the genomic diversity of viruses infecting bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes using a common bioinformatic platform: steps towards a unified taxonomy. J Gen Virol. 2018 Sep;99(9):1331-1343. doi: 10.1099/jgv.0.001110. Epub 2018 Jul 17. PubMed PMID: 30016225.
Kropinski AM. Bacteriophage research - What we have learnt and what still needs to be addressed. Res Microbiol. 2018 Nov;169(9):481-487. doi: 10.1016/j.resmic.2018.05.002. Epub 2018 May 16. PubMed PMID: 29777837.
Kropinski AM, Turner D, Nash JHE, Ackermann HW, Lingohr EJ, Warren RA, Ehrlich KC, Ehrlich M. The sequence of two bacteriophages with hypermodified bases reveals novel phage-host interactions. Viruses. 2018 Apr 24;10(5). pii: E217. doi: 10.3390/v10050217. PubMed PMID: 29695085.
Turner D, Ackermann HW, Kropinski AM, Lavigne R, Sutton JM, Reynolds DM. Comparative analysis of 37 Acinetobacter bacteriophages. Viruses. 2017 Dec 24;10(1). pii: E5. doi: 10.3390/v10010005. PubMed PMID: 29295549.
Aziz RK, Ackermann HW, Petty NK, Kropinski AM. Essential steps in characterizing bacteriophages: Biology, taxonomy, and genome analysis. Methods Mol Biol. 2018;1681:197-215. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7343-9_15. PubMed PMID: 29134597.
Kropinski AM. Practical advice on the one-step growth vurve. Methods Mol Biol. 2018;1681:41-47. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7343-9_3. PubMed PMID: 29134585.
Tolstoy I, Kropinski AM, Brister JR. Bacteriophage taxonomy: An evolving discipline. Methods Mol Biol. 2018;1693:57-71. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7395-8_6. PubMed PMID: 29119432.

B. Books

Clokie, Martha R. J., Kropinski, Andrew (Eds.). 2009. Bacteriophages: Methods and Protocols, Volume 1: Isolation, Characterization, and Interactions. Springer Protocols. Humana Press. Hardcover ISBN 978-1-58829-682-5

Clokie, Martha R. J., Kropinski, Andrew (Eds.). 2009. Bacteriophages: Methods and Protocols, Volume 2: Molecular and Applied Aspects. Springer Protocols Humana Press. Hardcover ISBN 978-1-60327-564-4

Clokie, Martha R. J., Kropinski, Andrew, Lavigne, Rob (Eds.). 2018. Bacteriophages Methods and Protocols, Volume 3. Springer Protocols Humana Press. Hardcover ISBN 978-1-4939-7341-5

Clokie, Martha R. J., Kropinski, Andrew, Lavigne, Rob (Eds.). 2019. Bacteriophages Methods and Protocols, Volume IV. Springer Protocols Humana Press. Hardcover ISBN 978-1-4939-8939-3

Team

Faculty Bio

Research Interests

Selected Publications

Faculty