Min Cao

Assistant Professor




Contact Information

127 Long Hall
Phone: 864 656-2154
FAX: 864 656-0435
Email: mcao@clemson.edu

Education

  • Post-doctoral Fellow, Cornell University-College of Veterinary Medicine
  • Ph.D. in Microbiology, Cornell University
  • B.S. in Biochemistry, East China University of Science and Technology

Research Interests

  • Bacteria are found almost everywhere on earth, and are notable for their ability to survive and adapt to hostile environments. Underlying these adaptive responses are changes in gene expression coordinated by signal transduction pathways. As a soil bacterium, Bacillus subtilis co-exists with many microorganisms in a complex and often competitive microenvironment. Many microorganisms, including the Bacilli, secrete substances that inhibit the growth of their competitors, a phenomenon known as antibiosis. In B. subtilis, resistance to antibiotics is contributed by the recently identified extracytoplasmic function (ECF) s factors. B. subtilis also exhibits a complex adaptive response to low levels of peroxides. The global response of B. subtilis to peroxide stress is coordinated by three transcriptional factors: PerR, sB, and OhrR. As a model organism, these pioneer works serve as a pedestal for the study of stress responses in other Gram-positive bacteria. (Learn more about B. subtilis stress response@ Helmann Lab, Cornell)
  • Our current focus is Listeria monocytogenes, a close relative of B. subtilis. L. monocytogenes is a Gram-positive intracellular pathogen, which can cause serious food-borne infections in immunocompromised individuals, elderly individuals and pregnant women. The pathogenesis of L. monocytogenes centers on its ability to survive and multiply in professional and non-professional phagocytic cells. Two very effective antimicrobial systems of professional phagocytic cells are the NADPH phagocyte oxidase and iNOS, which are responsible for generating reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species in the phagosome. The mechanisms by which L. monocytogenes survive oxidative and nitrosative stress are unknown. We are interested in elucidating the adaptation of L. monocytogenes to suboptimal conditions within the host cell phagosome. The overall goal of our lab is to understand the correlation between the molecular basis of bacterial stress response and bacterial pathogenesis. (Click here to learn more about Listeria)  

Selected Publications

  1. Alan P. Bitar, Cao, M. and Marquis, H. (2008) The Metalloprotease of Listeria monocytogenes is Activated by Intramolecular Autocatalysis. J Bacteriol, 190(1):107-11. (PubMed)
  2. Min Cao, Bitar, A.P. and Marquis, H. (2007) A mariner-Based Transposition System for Listeria monocytogenes. Appl. Environ. Microbioll, 73(8):2758-2761. (PubMed)
  3. Min Cao, Moore, C.M. and Helmann, J. D. (2005) Bacillus subtilis Paraquat Resistance Is Directed by SigmaM, an Extracytoplasmic Function Sigma Factor, and Is Conferred by YqjL and BcrC. J Bacteriol, 187(9):2948-2956. (PubMed, Supplemental Material)
  4. Min Cao and Helmann, J. D. (2004) The Bacillus subtilis extracytoplasmic function Sigma X factor regulates modification of the cell envelope and resistance to cationic antimicrobial peptides. J Bacteriol, 186(4):1136-1146. (PubMed)
  5. Ahmed Gaballa, Cao, M. and Helmann, J.D. (2003) Two MerR homologues that affect copper induction of the Bacillus subtilis copZA operon. Microbiology, 149:3413-3421. (PubMed)
  6. Min Cao, Salzberg, L., Tsai, C. S., Thorsten, M., Bonilla, C., Wang, T., Ye, R. W., Marquez-Magana, L. and Helmann, J. D. (2003) Regulation of the Bacillus subtilis Extracytoplasmic Function Protein Sigma Y and Its Target Promoters. J Bacteriol, 185(16): 4883-4890. (PubMed, Supplemental Material)
  7. Min Cao and Helmann, J. D. (2002) Regulation of the Bacillus subtilis bcrC bacitracin resistance gene by two ECF sigma factors. J. Bacteriol, 184(22): 6123-6129. (PubMed)
  8. Min Cao, Wang, T., Ye, R. W. and Helmann, J. D. (2002) Antibiotics that inhibit cell wall biosynthesis induce expression of the Bacillus subtilis Sigma W and Sigma M regulons. Mol. Microbiol, 45(5): 1267-1276. (PubMed, Supplemental Material)
  9. Min Cao, Kobel, P.A., Morshedi, M.M., Wu, M.F.W., Paddon, C. and Helmann, J.D. (2002) Defining the Bacillus subtilis Sigma W regulon: a comparative analysis of promoter consensus search, run-off transcription / macroarray analysis (ROMA), and transcriptional profiling approaches. J. Mol.Biol, 316: 443-457. (PubMed, Supplemental Material)
  10. Min Cao, Bernat B.A., Wang Z., Armstrong R.N., Helmann J.D. (2001) FosB, a cysteine-dependent fosfomycin resistance protein under the control of Sigma W, an extracytoplasmic-function sigma factor in Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol, 183(7): 2380-2383. (PubMed)
  11. Huang X., Gaballa A., Cao M, Helmann J.D. (1999) Identification of target promoters for the Bacillus subtilis extracytoplasmic function sigma factor, sigma W. Mol Microbiol, 31(1):361-71. (PubMed)

Recent Courses


  • Micro 415/615 - Microbial Genetics
  • Micro 491 - Undergraduate Research in Microbiology
  • Micro804 - Selected Topics in Microbiology

Graduate Students

  • Yong OuYang
  • Jing Li

Professional Affiliations

  • American Society of Microbiology (ASM)
  • American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Useful Links

  • Listilist  (database of the genomes of the food-borne pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes, and its non-pathogenic relative, Listeria innocua)
  • Subtlist (database of the genome of Bacillus subtilis)
  • PubMed
  • TIGR (The Institute of Genomic Research)