Andrei Kuzminov

Andrei Kuzminov is a Professor of Microbiology and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He leads the Kuzminov Lab, focused on understanding mechanisms of DNA replication stress, genome instability, and bacterial cell death. His research integrates genetic, biochemical, and computational approaches using Escherichia coli and other microbes to explore fundamental questions about chromosomal integrity and death mechanisms.

Education:

• M.A. in Biochemistry, University of Novosibirsk, Russia (1985)
• Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Novosibirsk, Russia (1990)
• Postdoctoral training at the University of Oregon (1991-2000)

Research Interests:

• Thymineless death (TLD) mechanisms
• Oxidative DNA damage and hydrogen peroxide toxicity
• RNA-DNA hybrids (R-loops) and their genomic consequences
• Replication fork dynamics and chromosome fragmentation
• Regulation of DNA replication and repair pathways

His lab has discovered novel aspects of TLD, including the independence of TLD from replication fork activity, and has characterized catastrophic chromosome fragmentation caused by hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide synergies. Recent work explores LMW-dT pools' role in cytoplasmic stability and the interplay between RNA metabolism and chromosome integrity.

Labs/Teams: The Kuzminov Lab operates within the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology, collaborating on projects funded by NIH grants and other agencies. They utilize advanced microscopy, genomic sequencing, and biochemical assays to study bacterial nucleoid dynamics and stress responses.