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Tag: Microbiota and Microbiomes

  1. Angela Poole, Nutritional Sciences

    Angela Poole

    The Poole Lab studies how factors like substrate availability and host genes influence the dynamics of symbiotic oral and gut microbial communities. Students will conduct in vitro studies on saliva samples to characterize the response of microbes to a panel of carbohydrate substrates. They will use bioinformatics[...]
  2. Joseph Peters, Microbiology

    Joe Peters

    The Peters lab studies microbial evolution via mobile genetic elements. We are interested in how mobile elements evolve new functions within host-associated bacteria. Students in the lab will develop skills in bioinformatics, molecular genetics, and biochemistry. An example student project is using sequencing data to[...]
  3. Teresa Pawlowska, Plant Pathoogy and Plant-Microbe Biology

    Teresa Pawlowska

    We study the mechanisms underlying ecological interactions between fungi and bacteria.  Student projects will focus on current work to characterize the bacteria associated with mycorrhizal fungi in poorly studied desert habitats in California and Israel. Students will learn culture and microscopy techniques, and phylogenetic analysis.
  4. Colin Parrish, Virology

    Colin Parrish

    My laboratory studies viruses, with a particular focus on viruses that have jumped into new hosts to cause epidemics of disease. One model we study is canine parvovirus, which is a cat virus that transferred into dogs in the mid-1970s and subsequently caused a global[...]
  5. Christopher Myers, Physics

    Christopher Myers

    My research spans infection biology across scales and systems, utilizing a variety of theoretical and computational approaches, such as: modeling of infectious disease dynamics in complex populations, networks and landscapes; characterizing the structure, function and evolution of cellular networks involved in pathogen virulence and host[...]
  6. Corrie Moreau, Entomology, and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

    Corrie Moreau

    The Moreau lab focuses on the symbiotic factors that drive evolutionary diversification in ants. One example question is whether seed-eating ants have distinct gut microbiomes to facilitate their use of this food source. Students will characterize the gut microbiomes of ant species using 16S amplicon[...]
  7. Cynthia Leifer, Immunology

    Cynthia Leifer

    The Leifer lab investigates how the immune system detects and initiates inflammatory responses to microbes. We focus on innate immune macrophages and the regulatory mechanisms that control inflammation through Toll-like receptors (TLRs).
  8. Jenny Kao-Kniffin, Horticulture

    Jenny Kao-Kniffin

    The goal of the Kao-Kniffin Lab is to understand the functional role of rhizosphere microbiomes in modifying plant traits. The rhizosphere harbors a tremendous diversity of soil microorganisms that enhance or inhibit plant growth. We are applying concepts in ecology and evolution to assemble microbiomes[...]
  9. Elizabeth Johnson, Nutritional Sciences

    Elizabeth Johnson

    We study how lipids mediate host-microbiome interactions.   A potential student project in the lab involves using techniques developed in the lab to identify novel interactions of saturated fatty acids with the gut microbiome and developing advanced techniques in anaerobic microbial genetics to determine the consequences[...]
  10. Tory Hendry, Microbiology

    Tory Hendry

    The Hendry lab studies how environmental bacteria interact with insect hosts. Our main focus is understanding how plant-associated bacteria influence the health and behavior of insect herbivores. Students will design mesocosm experiments with culturable bacteria growing on plants and herbivorous insects, using skills in bacteriology[...]