October 30, 2014

Sherry Kuchma, a senior scientist in the lab, led a recent collaborative study from the group published in the Journal of Bacteriology.  In this study, we showed that the repression of swarming motility by high levels of cyclic-di-GMP in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is mediated in part by a second set of stators, a key part of the flagellar motor.  Specifically, this study showed that while the MotCD stators are required to promote swarming, when cyclic-di-GMP is high, the MotAB stators repress swarming.  In collaboration with Judy Armitage's group at Oxford, it appears that the localization of MotCD is altered in high cyclic-di-GMP.  We proposed a model wherein MotAB might be able to displace the functional stators stators (MotCD) when cyclic-di-GMP is high, and thus shut down this surface motility.

October 24, 2014

We recently published a collaborative report in PLoS Pathogens with Deb Hogan's lab here at Dartmouth.  In this study, the Hogan lab showed that fungally-produced ethanol inhibits surface motility by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.  This inhibition requires c-di-GMP signaling.  Dae Gon Ha, a former PhD in the lab, now a post-doc at Harvard Medical School, contributed to the study.

October 14, 2014

Laura Filkins, a PhD student in the lab, received a $500 travel grant for the ASM Conference on Polymicrobial Infections.  Laura will be presenting a poster at the meeting.

October 06, 2014

We have recently published a collaborative article with Yves Dufrene's group in Belgium exploring the role of type IV pili in attachment using atomic force microscopy.  These studies highlight some key properties of pili that contribute to their ability to drive adhesion.  The work includes Sherry Kuchma and Amy Baker from my group.

October 03, 2014

Laura Filkins, a PhD student in the lab (3rd from the right) spoke to researchers at the F.I. Proctor Foundation at UCSF about her investigations into the ocular surface microbiome in trachoma patients. The project was support by a grant to Laura from the Alta Foundations  and is a collaboration between Dartmouth and the Proctor Foundation initiated by Michael Zegans. The Proctor Foundation, under the leadership of Tom Lietman, MD, is a world wide leader in trachoma research.

Kate Ruouff has joined the lab as a Research Scientist.  She is working together with my collaborator Juliette Madan.  Juliette is a physician-scientists who established a cohort of infants and children with CF - Juliette has tracked the developing airway and gut microflora of these children over ~5 year.  Kate will help with sample collection and analysis, as well as developing models to study these microbes in the lab.  Welcome!