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Jonathan D. Partridge

  • Associate Professor of Instruction
  • Molecular Biosciences
  • Biology Instructional Office
Profile image of Jonathan D. Partridge
j.partridge@utexas.edu
512-232-2745
PAI
1.13A
A5000

Biography

Courses:

BIO311C - Introductory Biology I: Serves as a general introduction to biology at the molecular level. Broadly, in terms of macromolecules, cell structure and function, energy transformation and flow (including respiration and photosynthesis), and how genetic information is expressed, and passed from one generation to another.

BIO311D - Introductory Biology II: Serves as a general introduction to biology, covering diverse topics such as reproduction, inheritance, evolution, phylogeny, biodiversity, ecology, and experimental design.

MBS326R - General Microbiology: Overview of the major areas of microbiological study, including cell structure and function, genetics, host-microbe interactions, physiology, ecology, diversity, and virology.

Research

After completing my degree in Microbiology at the University of Sheffield, I joined the lab of Dr. Jeffrey Green (also at Sheffield), where I further elucidated the regulon of the oxygen sensitive response-regulator FNR, and how the protein coordinated the adaption of E. coli to different growth conditions. Following this, I as a post-doc at the lab of Dr. Stephen Spiro at The University of Texas at Dallas, I studied the influences of the nitric-oxide sensitive transcriptional regulator NsrR. 

After this, I shifted my research interests toward bacterial motility, by joining the lab of Dr. Rasika Harshey, here at the University of Texas at Austin as a Research Associate. These interests pertained to how bacteria sense their environment, and remodel their motility accordingly. My main focus was in better understanding the role of two proteins important in the function of the flagellar motor. The first, FliL, is critical for swarming (a surfaced based mode of motility) and functions to maximize motor output while the second, YcgR, is mediated by the secondary messenger c-di-GMP and acts as a breaking mechanism to halt motility.

During this time, I also took on responsibility for teaching a number of undergraduate classes here at UT, and since 2001 have turned my attention entirely to pedagogy and curriculum design across the introductory biology classes, and for the upper-division General Microbiology course.

 

Research Areas

  • Molecular Biology or Genetics
  • Microbiology

Fields of Interest

  • Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Disease
  • Molecular Biology, Genetics & Genomics
  • Microbiology

Education

  • 2005: PhD. BBSRC student with Prof. Jeffrey Green, The University of Sheffield, UK
  • 2001: BSc. (Hons) in Microbiology, The University of Sheffield, UK

Publications

  • Partridge, J.D. and Harshey, R.M. Flagellar protein FliL: A Many Splendored thing. (2024). Mol. Microbiol. doi: 10.1111/mmi.15301.

  • Partridge, J.D., Dufour, Y.S., Hwang, Y. and Harshey, R.M. (2023). Flagellar motor remodeling during swarming requires FliL. Mol. Microbiol. Nov;120(5):670-683.doi: 10.1111/mmi.15148.

  • Partridge, J.D. and Harshey, R.M. (2023). Swarming Motility Assays in Salmonella. Methods Mol Biol. 2023;2646:147-158. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3060-0_13

  • Baker, M.A.B., Kojima, S., Nord, A.L. and Partridge, J.D. (2023). Editorial: Flagellar Motors and Force Sensing in Bacteria. Front Microbiol. 2022 Feb 4;13:833011. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.833011

  • Partridge, J.D. Surveying a Swarm: Experimental Techniques to Establish and Examine Bacterial Collective Motion. (2021). Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi: 10.1128/AEM.01853-21

  • Partridge, J.D., Nhu, N.T.Q., Dufour, Y. and Harshey, R.M. Tumble Suppression is a Conserved Feature of Swarming Motility. (2020). mBio. doi: 10.1128/mBio.01189-20

  • Partridge, J.D. and Harshey, R.M. Investigating Flagella-Driven Motility in Escherichia coli by Applying Three Established Techniques in a series. (2020). J. Vis. Exp. doi: 10.3791/61364.

  • Mengucci, F., Dardis, C., Mongiardini, E.J., Althabegoti, M.J., Partridge, J.D., Kojima, S., Homma, M., Quelas, J.I. and Lodeiro, A.R. Characterization of FliL Proteins in Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens: Lateral FliL Supports Swimming Motility, and Subpolar FliL Modulates the Lateral Flagellar System. (2020). J. Bacteriol. doi: 10.1128/JB.00708-19 

  • Nieto, V., Partridge, J.D., Severin, G., Lai, R.Z., Waters, C., Parkinson, J.S., Harshey, R.M. Under elevated c-di-GMP in E. coli, YcgR alters flagellar motor bias and speed sequentially, with additional negative control of the flagellar regulon via the adaptor protein RssB. (2019). J. Bacteriol. doi: 10.1128/JB.00578-19 *Co-first author/co-corresponding author

  • Partridge, J.D., Nhu, N.T.Q., Dufour, Y.S., and Harshey, R.M. (2019). Escherichia coli remodels the chemotaxis pathway for swarming. mBio. March, 2019

  • Partridge, J.D., Ariel, G., Schvartz, O., Harshey, R.M. and Be’er, A. (2018). 3D Architecture of a Bacterial Swarm. Sci. Rep. Oct. 2018

  • Ariel, G., Rabani, A., Benisty, S., Partridge, J.D., Harshey, R.M. and Be’er, A. (2015). Swarming Bacteria Migrate by Lévy-Walk. Nature. Comm. Sept. 2015

  • Harshey, R.M. and Partridge, J.D. (2015). Surviving in a Swarm. J. Mol. Biol. Aug. 2015

  • Partridge, J.D., Nieto, V. and Harshey, R.M. (2015). A new player at the flagellar motor: FliL controls both motor output and bias. M.Bio. Feb 24;6(2). Doi: 10.1128/mbio.02367-14

  • Partridge, J.D. and Harshey, R. (2013). More than motility: Salmonella flagella contribute to overriding surface friction and facilitate colony hydration during swarming. J. Bacteriol. 195:919-929 *Selected as a journal highlight by the American Society of Microbiology, Microbe Magazine, Feb. 2013

  • Partridge, J.D. and Harshey, R. (2013). Swarming: flexible roaming plans. J. Bacteriol. 195:909-918

  • Lacey, M.M., Partridge, J.D. and Green, J. (2010). Escherichia coli K-12 YfgF is an anaerobic cyclic di-GMP phosphodiesterase with roles in cell surface re-modelling and the oxidative stress response. Microbiol. 156:2873-2886

  • Partridge, J. D., Bodenmiller, D. M., Humphrys, M. and Spiro, S. (2009). NsrR targets in the Escherichia coli genome: new insights into DNA sequence requirements for binding and a role for NsrR in the regulation of motility. Mol. Microbiol. 73:680-94

  • Rankin, L. D., Bodenmiller, D. M., Partridge, J. D., Nishino, S. F., Spain, J. C. and Spiro, S. (2008). Escherichia coli NsrR regulates a pathway for the oxidation of 3-nitrotyramine to 4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenylacetate. J. Bacteriol. 190: 6170-6177

  • Partridge, J. D., Browning, D. F., Xu, M., Newnham, L. J., Scott, C., Poole, R. K. and Green, J. (2008). Characterization of the Escherichia coli K-12 ydhYVWXUT operon: regulation by FNR, NarL and NarP. Microbiology 154: 608-618

  • Partridge, J.D., Poole, R.K. and Green, J. (2007). The Escherichia coli yhjA gene, encoding a predicted cytochrome c peroxidise, is regulated by FNR and OxyR. Microbiology 153: 1499-1507
     

  • Partridge, J.D., Sanguinetti, G., Dibden, D,. Roberts, R.E., Poole, R.K. and Green, J. (2007). Transition of Escherichia coli from aerobic to micro-aerobic conditions involves fast and slow reacting regulatory pathways. J. Biol. Chem. 282: 11230-11237

  • Partridge, J. D., Scott, C., Tang, Y., Poole, R. K. and Green, J. (2006). Escherichia coli transcriptome dynamics during the transition from anaerobic to aerobic conditions. J. Biol. Chem. 281: 27806-27815 * Faculty of 1000 Recommended Article.

  • Scott, C., Partridge, J. D., Stephenson, J. R, and Green J. (2003). DNA target sequence and FNR-dependent gene expression. FEBS Letters 541: 97-101.

Awards

  • 2024-2026: Dean's Teaching Fellow - Pathways Grant Recipient - Office of STEM Educational Excellence (STEMx)
  • 2023/24 - President's Associates Teaching Excellence Award
  • 2023: Teaching Innovation Grant - Center for Teaching and Learning, UT Austin
  • 2023: Certificate of Recognition - Student Support Award, Disability and Access UT Austin
  • 2022: Biology Instructional Office Teaching Excellence Award
  • 2022: Students as Partners Grant Award - UT Austin Center for Teaching and Learning
  • 2015: The Robert M. MacNab Award – Bacterial Locomotion and Signal Transduction meeting
  • 2004: Awarded the Sir Hans Krebs award for Molecular Sciences – The University of Sheffield
  • 2001-2005: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Ph.D. scholarship