Merrikh, Houra

The long-term goal of the Merrikh lab is to understand the mechanisms responsible for replication conflicts, their structural and functional consequences, and the mechanism of cellular response. Impediments to the replication machinery, including breaks, DNA binding proteins, and transcription, lead to conflicts that can result in genomic instability, mutagenesis, and a failure to segregate fully replicated genomes. We aim to identify and understand the mechanisms that are essential for avoidance, resolution and toleration of these conflicts. The lab employs molecular, genetic, biochemical, and cell biological approaches in the model system Bacillus subtilis (a Gram-positive bacterium) to understand how cells deal with obstacles encountered by replication. Replication conflicts occur in all life forms and the basic strategies used by cells to deal with these problems may be conserved across species.