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Microbiology
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Microbiology

D-Index
141
Citations
69355
World Ranking
53
National Ranking
26

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Microbiology in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Microbiology in United States Leader Award
  • 1998 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences

Overview

John J. Mekalanos is affiliated with Harvard Medical School in the United States. Their research primarily focuses on biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology with a significant concentration in molecular biology, endocrinology, immunology, infectious diseases, and ecology.

The scientist's work encompasses a range of main topics, including:

  • Vibrio bacteria research studies
  • Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
  • Escherichia coli research studies
  • Gut microbiota and health
  • CRISPR and genetic engineering
  • Infant nutrition and health
  • Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensing

Mekalanos has published extensively in several venues. The most frequent publication venues include:

  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Cell
  • Molecular Cell
  • Nature

Collaborative work with frequent co-authors covers:

  • William P. Robins (9 publications)
  • Jonida Toska (7 publications)
  • Bradley T. Meader (5 publications)
  • Aaron T. Whiteley (3 publications)
  • Wenfeng Zheng (3 publications)

Recent significant publications by Mekalanos include:

  • CBASS Immunity Uses CARF-Related Effectors to Sense 3'-5'- and 2'-5'-Linked Cyclic Oligonucleotide Signals and Protect Bacteria from Phage Infection, 2020, Cell
  • Structure and Mechanism of a Cyclic Trinucleotide-Activated Bacterial Endonuclease Mediating Bacteriophage Immunity, 2020, Molecular Cell
  • Microbiota-targeted maternal antibodies protect neonates from enteric infection, 2020, Nature
  • Gut complement induced by the microbiota combats pathogens and spares commensals, 2024, Cell
  • Intratumoral injection of schwannoma with attenuated Salmonella typhimurium induces antitumor immunity and controls tumor growth, 2022, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Mekalanos was named a Member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1998.

Best Publications

  • Lysogenic conversion by a filamentous phage encoding cholera toxin.

    Matthew K. Waldor;John J. Mekalanos

  • A novel suicide vector and its use in construction of insertion mutations: osmoregulation of outer membrane proteins and virulence determinants in Vibrio cholerae requires toxR.

    V L Miller;J J Mekalanos

  • DNA sequence of both chromosomes of the cholera pathogen Vibrio cholerae

    John F. Heidelberg;Jonathan A. Eisen;William C. Nelson;Rebecca A. Clayton

  • Epidemiology, Genetics, and Ecology of Toxigenic Vibrio cholerae

    S M Faruque;M J Albert;J J Mekalanos

  • Identification of a conserved bacterial protein secretion system in Vibrio cholerae using the Dictyostelium host model system

    Stefan Pukatzki;Amy T. Ma;Derek Sturtevant;Bryan Krastins

  • Use of phoA gene fusions to identify a pilus colonization factor coordinately regulated with cholera toxin

    Ronald K. Taylor;Virginia L. Miller;Deirdre B. Furlong;John J. Mekalanos

  • A virulence locus of Pseudomonas aeruginosa encodes a protein secretion apparatus

    Joseph D. Mougous;Marianne E. Cuff;Stefan Raunser;Aimee Shen

  • A two-component regulatory system (phoP phoQ) controls Salmonella typhimurium virulence.

    Samuel I. Miller;Anne M. Kukral;John J. Mekalanos

  • Environmental signals controlling expression of virulence determinants in bacteria.

    J J Mekalanos

  • Quorum-sensing regulators control virulence gene expression in Vibrio cholerae

    Jun Zhu;Melissa B. Miller;Russell E. Vance;Michelle Dziejman

  • The origin of the Haitian cholera outbreak strain.

    Chen Shan Chin;Jon Sorenson;Jason B. Harris;William P. Robins

  • Selection of bacterial virulence genes that are specifically induced in host tissues.

    Michael J. Mahan;James M. Slauch;John J. Mekalanos

  • Toxin, toxin-coregulated pili, and the toxR regulon are essential for Vibrio cholerae pathogenesis in humans.

    D A Herrington;R H Hall;G Losonsky;J J Mekalanos

  • Type VI secretion system translocates a phage tail spike-like protein into target cells where it cross-links actin

    Stefan Pukatzki;Amy T. Ma;Andrew T. Revel;Derek Sturtevant

  • Cholera toxin genes: nucleotide sequence, deletion analysis and vaccine development

    Mekalanos Jj;Swartz Dj;Pearson Gd;Harford N

  • Type VI secretion requires a dynamic contractile phage tail-like structure

    M. Basler;M. Pilhofer;G. P. Henderson;G. J. Jensen

  • Coordinate regulation and sensory transduction in the control of bacterial virulence.

    Jeff F. Miller;John J. Mekalanos;Stanley Falkow

  • Type VI secretion apparatus and phage tail-associated protein complexes share a common evolutionary origin

    Petr G. Leiman;Petr G. Leiman;Marek Basler;Udupi A. Ramagopal;Jeffrey B. Bonanno

  • Cholera toxin transcriptional activator ToxR is a transmembrane DNA binding protein

    Virginia L. Miller;Ronald K. Taylor;John J. Mekalanos

  • Quorum Sensing-Dependent Biofilms Enhance Colonization in Vibrio cholerae

    Jun Zhu;John J. Mekalanos

  • A Virulence Locus of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Encodes a Protein

    Joseph D. Mougous;Marianne E. Cuff;Stefan Raunser;Aimee Shen

Frequent Co-Authors

Shah M. Faruque
Shah M. Faruque Independent University
Matthew K. Waldor
Matthew K. Waldor Harvard Medical School
Stephen B. Calderwood
Stephen B. Calderwood Massachusetts General Hospital
James M. Slauch
James M. Slauch University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
G. Balakrish Nair
G. Balakrish Nair National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases
David A. Sack
David A. Sack Johns Hopkins University
Amy S. Lee
Amy S. Lee University of Southern California
R. John Collier
R. John Collier Harvard University
Eric J. Rubin
Eric J. Rubin Harvard University
Marian R. Neutra
Marian R. Neutra Harvard Medical School

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