Research Interests

• Member of EC Committee on S&T Aid to Asean Region (1987-89).
• Referee for Research Grants - NBST and HEIC [Irish Agencies]; USDA Competitive Grants Programme; NSF - USA; EU Biotechnology Programmes; UNIDO Proposals (1980-present).
• Editor for Science Journals: (i) Applied & Environmental Microbiology (AEM) [American Society] and (ii) Molecular Ecology.
• Member of UNIDO Advisory Panel on Biotechnology.
• Member of EU Science Panels (Biotechnology and Life Sciences).
• Acted as Visiting Professor to several universities in Europe and the USA.
• Member of European Environmental Research Organisation (EERO) [Elected].
• Member of New York Academy of Sciences [Invited].

• (1) Acting as Director of BIOMERIT, an EC-wide network system of biotechnology institutions and industries to maximise education and research in innovative biotechnology. The BIOMERIT programme has received financial support from the EC COMETT II Programme. Coordinator of EU IMPACT project on molecular ecology and biotechnology of microbial inoculants (17 groups involved).
• (2) Research Funding The ongoing research work is funded from external sources and includes funds from both national and international granting agencies and industry (e.g. Health Research Board of Ireland; Cystic Fibrosis Association; EU programmes, e.g. BAP, BIOTECHNOLOGY, BRIDGE, COMETT, ECLAIR, FLAIR, SCIENCE).
• (3) Research Publications Research work from my laboratory group has been published in international scientific journals and books (over 100 major papers in edited works). In addition, I have contributed our research findings at many international conferences. Editor of text book on Molecular Microbial Ecology.
• (4) International Conferences and Research Meetings Organised workshops under the framework of the EC BRIDGE and BIOTECHNOLOGY Programmes on "Molecular Ecology of Rhizosphere Bacteria".

O'Gara, F., Priefer, U.B., Dowling, D.N. and Nuti, M.P. (1999). Prokaryotes in Agriculture. In: Biology of the Prokaryotes, (Eds. J.W. Lengeler, G. Drews and H.G. Schlegel), Thieme, Stuttgart, New York, Section IX (Ed. A. Pühler) pp.850-873.

Waldron-Lynch, F., Adams, C., Shanahan, F., Molloy, M.G., and O'Gara, F. (1999). Genetic analysis of the 3' untranslated region of the tumour necrosis factor shows a highly conserved region in rheumatoid arthritis affected and unaffected subjects. J. Med. Genet. 36(3): 214-216.

Bedini, S., Bagnoli, G., Sbrana, C., Leporini, C., Tola, E., Dunne, C., Filippi, C., D'Andrea, F., O'Gara, F., and Nuti, M.P. (1999). Pseudomonads isolated from within fruit bodies of Tuber borchii are capable of producing biological control of phytostimulatory compounds in pure culture. Symbiosis 26(3): 223-236.

Moënne-Loccoz, Y., Naughton, M., Higgins, P., Powell, J., O'Connor, B., and O'Gara, F. (1999). Effect of inoculum preparation and formulation on survival and biocontrol efficacy of Pseudomonas fluorescens F113. J. Appl. Microbiol. 86: 108-116.

Devine, K.J., Dunne, C., O'Gara, F., and Jones, P.W. (1999). The influence of in-egg mortality and spontaneous hatching on the decline of Globodera rostochiensis during crop rotation in the absence of the host potato crop in the field. Nematology 1(6): 637-645.

Smith, L.M., Tola, E., deBoer, P., and O'Gara, F. (1999). Signalling by the fungus Pythium ultimum represses expression of two ribosomal RNA operons with key roles in the rhizosphere ecology of Pseudomonas fluorescens F113. Environmental Microbiology 1(6): 495-502.

Heeb, S., Itoh, Y., Nishijyo, T., Schnider, U., Keel, C., Wade, J., Walsh, U., O'Gara, F., and Haas, D. (2000). Small, stable shuttle vectors based on the minimal pVS1 replicon for use in Gram-negative plant-associated bacteria. MPMI 13, 232-237.

Delany, I., Sheehan, M.M., Fenton, A., Bardin, S., Aarons, S., and O'Gara, F. (2000) Regulation of production of the antifungal metabolite 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol in Pseudomonas fluorescens F113: Genetic analysis of phlF as a transcriptional repressor. Microbiology 146: 537-546.

Aarons, S., Abdelhamid, A., Adams, C., and O'Gara, F. (2000). A regulatory RNA (PrrB) modulates the expression of secondary metabolite genes in Pseudomonas fluorescens F113. J. Bacteriol. 182:3913-3919.

Dunne, C., Moënne-Loccoz, Y., de Bruijn, F.J., and O'Gara, F. (2000). Overproduction of an inducible extracellular serine protease improves biological control of Pythium ultimum by Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain W81. Microbiology. 146:2069-2078.

Waldron-Lynch F., Adams, C., Amos, C.I., Zhu, D.K., McDermott, M.F.,Shanahan, F., Molloy, M.G., and O'Gara. (2001). Tumour necrosis factor 5' promoter single nucleotide polymorphisms influence susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in immunogenetically defined multiplex RA families. Genes Immun. 2:82-87.

Walsh UF, Morrissey JP, O'Gara F. (2001). Pseudomonas for biocontrol of phytopathogens: from functional genomics to commercial exploitation. Curr Opin Biotechnol.12: 289-295.

Moenne-Loccoz Y, Tichy HV, O'Donnell A, Simon R, O'Gara F.(2001) Impact of 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol-producing biocontrol strain Pseudomonas fluorescens F113 on intraspecific diversity of resident culturable fluorescent pseudomonads associated with the roots of field-grown sugar beet seedlings. Appl Environ Microbiol. 67:3418-3425.

Delany, I.R., Walsh, U.F., Ross, I., Fenton, A.M., Corkery, D.M., and O'Gara, F. (2001). Enhancing the biocontrol efficacy of Pseudomonas fluorescens F113 by altering the regulation and production of 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol. Plant and Soil 232, 195-205.

Resca, R., Basaglia, M., Poggiolini, S., Vian, P., Bardin, S., Walsh, U.F., Enriquez Barreiros, C.M., O'Gara, F., Nuti, M.P., Casella, S., and Peruch, U. (2001). An integrated approach for the evaluation of biological control of the complex Polymyxa betae/Beet Necrotic Yellow Vein Virus, by means of seed inoculants. Plant and Soil 232: 215-226.

Sánchez-Contreras, M., Martín, M., Villacieros, M., O'Gara, F., Bonilla, I., and Rivilla, R. (2002). Phenotypic selection and phase variation occur during alfalfa root colonization by Pseudomonas fluorescens F113. J. Bacteriol. 184: 1587-1596.

Werner, D., Barea, J.M., Brewin, N.J., Cooper, J.E., Katinakis, P., Lindström, K., O'Gara, F., Spaink, H.P., Truchet, G., and Müller, P. (2002). Symbiosis and defence in the interaction of plants with microorganisms. Symbiosis 32(2): 83-104.

Abbas, A., Morrissey, J.P., Carnicero Marquez, P., Sheehan, M.M., Delany, I.R., and O'Gara, F. (2002). Characterization of interactions between the transcriptional repressor PhlF and its binding site at the phlA promoter in Pseudomonas fluorescens F113. J. Bacteriol. 184(11): 3008-3016.

Morrissey, J.P., Walsh, U.F., O'Donnell, A., Moënne-Loccoz, Y., and O'Gara, F. (2002). Exploitation of genetically modified inoculants for industrial ecology applications. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 81: 599-606.

Walsh, U.F., Moënne-Loccoz, Y., Tichy, H.-V., Gardner, A., Corkery, D.M., Lohrke, S., and O'Gara, F. (2003). Residual impact of the biocontrol inoculant Pseudomonas fluorescens F113 on the resident population of rhizobia nodulating a red clover rotation crop. Microbial Ecol. 45(2): 145-155.

Denison, R.F., Bledsoe, C., Kahn, M., O'Gara, F., Simms, E.L., and Thomashow, L.S. (2003). Cooperation in the rhizosphere and the "free rider" problem. Ecology 84(4): 838-845.

Mark, G.L., Morrissey, J.P., and O'Gara, F. (2003), Designing improved GM bacteria for application in environmental biotechnology. In: Ecological Impact of GMO Dissemination in Agro-Ecosystems, (Proceedings of OECD Workshop, Grossrussbach, Austria), (Eds. T. Lelley, E. Balázs, and M. Tepfer), Facultas Verlags- und Buchhandels AG, Vienna, pp.11-24.

Mark, G.L., Morrissey, J., Baysse, C., Sweeney, P., and O'Gara, F. (2004). Molecular ecology strategies to investigate the behaviour of GM and non-modified biocontrol inoculants in the rhizosphere. In: Biology of Plant-Microbe Interactions, Vol. 4, [Proceedings of the 11th International Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, St. Petersburg, Russia], (Eds. T. Tikhonovich, B. Lugtenberg, and N. Provorov), IS-MPMI, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA, pp.585-588.

Pühler, A., Arlat, M., Becker, A., Göttfert, M., Morrissey, J.P., and O'Gara, F. (2004), What can bacterial genome research teach us about bacteria-plant interactions? Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 7(2):137-147.

Abbas, A., McGuire, J.E., Crowley, D., Baysse, C., Dow, M., and O'Gara, F. (2004). The putative permease PhlE of Pseudomonas fluorescens F113 has a role in 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol resistance and in general stress tolerance. Microbiology 150: 2443-2450.

Guihen E., Glennon, J.D., Cullinane, M., and O'Gara, F. (2004). Rapid analysis of antimicrobial metabolites monoacetylphloroglucinol and 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol using capillary zone electrophoresis. Electrophoresis. 25(10-11): 1536-42.

Morrissey, J.P., Dow, J.M., Mark, G.L., and O'Gara, F. (2004). Are microbes at the root of a solution to world food production? EMBO Reports 5(10): 922-926.

Morrissey, J.P., Abbas, A., Mark, L., Cullinane, M., and O'Gara, F. (2004). Biosynthesis of antifungal metabolites by biocontrol strains of Pseudomonas. In: The Pseudomonads, Vol. III (Ed. J.L. Ramos), Kluwer Press, pp.635-670.

Finnan, S., Morrissey, J.P., O'Gara, F., and Boyd, E.F. (2004). Genome diversity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from cystic fibrosis patients and the hospital environment. J Clin. Microbiol. 42(12): 5783-5792.

O'Shea, Y.A., Finnan, S., Reen, F.J., Morrissey, J.P., O'Gara, F., and Boyd, E.F. (2004). The Vibrio seventh pandemic island-II is a 26.9 kb genomic island present in Vibrio cholerae El Tor and O139 serogroup isolates that shows homology to a 43.4 kb genomic island in V. vulnificus. Microbiology 150(12): 4053-4063.

Burrowes, E., Abbas, A., O'Neill, A., Adams, C., and O'Gara, F. (2005). Characterisation of the regulatory RNA RsmB from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Res. in Microbiol. 156: 7-16.

Larrainzar, E., O'Gara, F., and Morrissey, J.P. (2005). Applications of autofluorescent proteins for in situ studies in microbial ecology. Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 59: 257-277.

Baysse, C., Cullinane, M., Denervaud, V., Burrowes, E., Dow, J.M., Morrissey, J.P., Tam, L., Trevors, J.T., and O'Gara, F. (2005). Modulation of quorum sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa through alteration of membrane properties. Microbiology 151: 2529-2542.

Cullinane, M., Baysse, C., Morrissey, J.P., and O'Gara F. (2005). Identification of two lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase genes with overlapping function in Pseudomonas fluorescens. Microbiology 151: 3071-3080.

Mark, G.L., Dow, M.J., Kiely, P., Higgins, H., Haynes, J., Baysse, C., Abbas, A., Foley, T., Franks, A., Morrissey, J., and O'Gara, F. (2005). Transcriptome profiling of bacterial responses to root exudates identifies novel genes involed in microbe-plant interactions. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 102(48): 17454-17459.

Dandie, C.E., Larrainzar, E., Mark, G.L., O'Gara, F., and Morrissey, J.P. (2005). Establishment of DsRed.T3_S4T as an improved autofluorescent marker for microbial ecology applications. Environmental Microbiology 7(11): 1818-1825.

Mulcahy, H., O'Rourke, K.P., Adams, C., Molloy, M.G., and O'Gara, F. (2005). LST1 and NCR3 expression in autoimmune inflammation and in response to IFN , LPS and microbial infection. Immunogenetics Dec. 17: 1-11.

Maunsell, B., Adams, C., and O'Gara, F. (2006). Complex regulation of AprA metalloprotease in Pseudmonas fluorescens M114: evidence for the involvement of iron, the ECF sigma factor, PbrA, and pseudobactin M114 siderophore. Microbiology 152: 29-42.

Burrowes, E., Baysse, C., Adams, C., and O'Gara, F. (2006). Influence of the regulatory protein RsmA on cellular functions in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1, as revealed by transcriptome analysis. Microbiology Feb. 152(Pt.2): 405-418.

Mark, G.L., Morrissey, J., Higgins, P., and O'Gara, F. (2006). Molecular-based strategies to exploit Pseudomomonas biocontrol strains for environmental biotechnology applications. FEMS Micro. Rev. (in press).

Mulcahy, H., O'Callaghan, J., O'Grady, EP., Adams, C., O'Gara F. (2006) The Post-transcriptional Regulator RsmA plays a Role in the Interaction between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Human Airway Epithelial Cells by Positively Regulating the Type III Secretion System.. Infection and Immunity. (In Press)

O'Grady, Eoin P, Mulcahy, Heidi, O'Callaghan, Julie, Adams, Claire, O'Gara, Fergal. 2006 Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection of Airway Epithelial Cells Modulates the Expression of KLF2 and KLF6 via the RsmA-mediated Regulation of the Type III Exoenzymes S and Y. Infect Immun. 2006 Oct;74(10):5893-902.

Baysse C. and O'Gara F. (2006) Role of membrane structure during stress signalling and adaptation in Pseudomonas. In Pseudomonas: a model system in biology. Vol V. Submitted. Edited by J. Ramos and A. Filloux. New York: Springer-Verlag.

Cummins J., Michel L., O'Gara F. and Baysse C. (2006) Envelope-mediated stress signalling in bacteria. In New research in signal transduction. In Press. Edited by F. Columbus. New York: Nova Science Publishers.

Franks, A., Ryan, R., Abbas, A., Mark, L., and F. O'Gara. (2006) Molecular tools for studying plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). In Molecular techniques for soil and rhizsophere microoragnisms. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK

Mark, G.L., Morrissey, J.P., Higgins, P., and O'Gara, F. (2006). Molecular-based strategies to exploit Pseudomonas biocontrol strains for environmental biotechnology applications. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 56;167-177.

Mulcahy, H., O'Callaghan, J., O'Grady, EP., Adams, C., O'Gara F. The Post-transcriptional Regulator RsmA plays a Role in the Interaction between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Human Airway Epithelial Cells by Positively Regulating the Type III Secretion System. Infect Immun. 2006 May;74(5):3012-5.

Kiely, D.P., Haynes, J.M., Higgins, C.H., Franks, A., Mark, G.L., Morrissey J.P. and O'Gara F. Exploiting New Systems-Based Strategies to Elucidate Plant-Bacterial Interactions in the Rhizosphere. Microbial Ecology. 2006 Apr 51(3):257-66

Mulcahy, H., O'Rourke, K.P., Adams, C., Molloy, M.G., O'Gara F. LST1 and NCR3 expression in autoimmune inflammation and in response to IFN , LPS and microbial infection. Immunogenetics. 2006 Jan;57(12):893-903. Epub 2005 Dec 17.

Burrowes, E., Baysse, C., Adams, C., O'Gara F. Influence of the regulatory protein RsmA on cellular functions in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1, as revealed by transcriptome analysis. Microbiology. 2006 Feb; 152(Pt 2): 405-418

Maunsell B., Adams, C., O'Gara, F. Complex regulation of AprA metalloprotease in Pseudomonas fluorescens M114: Evidence for the involvement of iron, the ECF sigma factor, PbrA, and pseudobactin M114 siderophore. Microbiology. 2006 Jan;152(Pt 1):29-42. PMID: 16385113