A5067599337- Legionella and Acanthamoeba research
- Vibrio bacteria research studies
- Gut microbiota and health
- Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensing
- Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Blood groups and transfusion
- Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
- Neutrophil, Myeloperoxidase and Oxidative Mechanisms
- Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
- CRISPR and Genetic Engineering
- Blood disorders and treatments
- Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens research
- Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- biodegradable polymer synthesis and properties
- Cytomegalovirus and herpesvirus research
- Bacterial Infections and Vaccines
- Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology
- Salmonella and Campylobacter epidemiology
- Graphene and Nanomaterials Applications
- Transgenic Plants and Applications
- Urinary and Genital Oncology Studies
- Signaling Pathways in Disease
- Biochemical and Molecular Research
- Adenosine and Purinergic Signaling
- Microbial infections and disease research
Boston Children's Hospital
2020-2022
Harvard University
2019-2021
University of Toronto
1982-2019
Boston University
2019
Peking University
2012
Hospital for Sick Children
1982-1987
SickKids Foundation
1987
Ministry of Health and Long Term Care
1982
Humans and many other hosts establish a diverse community of beneficial microbes anew each generation. The order identity incoming symbionts is critical for health, but what determines the success assembly process remains poorly understood. Here we develop ecological theory to identify factors important microbial assembly. Our method maps out all feasible pathways given microbiome—with analogies mutational underlying fitness landscapes in evolutionary biology. Building these “assembly maps”...
Abstract Pathogens deliver complex arsenals of translocated effector proteins to host cells during infection, but the extent which these are regulated once inside eukaryotic cell remains poorly defined. Among all bacterial pathogens, Legionella pneumophila maintains largest known set substrates, delivering over 300 via its Type IVB , Icm/Dot translocation system. Backed by a few notable examples effector–effector regulation in L. we sought define this phenomenon through systematic analysis...
The bacterial H-NS protein silences expression from sequences with higher AT-content than the host genome and is believed to buffer fitness consequences associated foreign gene acquisition. Loss of results in severe growth defects Salmonella, but underlying reasons were unclear. An experimental evolution approach was employed determine which secondary mutations could compensate for loss Salmonella. Six independently derived S. Typhimurium hns mutant strains serially passaged 300 generations...
Over 20 years ago, two groups independently domesticated Legionella pneumophila from a clinical isolate of bacteria collected during the first recognized outbreak Legionnaires' disease (at 1976 American Legion's convention in Philadelphia). These laboratory strains, JR32 and Lp01, along with their derivatives, have been disseminated to number laboratories around world form cornerstone much research conducted on this important pathogen date. Nevertheless, no exhaustive examination genetic...
Mucosal-associated Escherichia coli are commonly found in inflamed tissues during inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). These bacteria often possess an adherent and invasive phenotype but lack virulence-associated features of well-described intestinal E. pathogens, diverse serology phylotypes, making it difficult to correlate strain characteristics with exacerbations disease.The genome sequences 14 phenotypically assigned adherent-invasive (AIEC) isolates obtained from biopsies patients IBD were...
CRISPR–Cas is a bacterial and archaeal adaptive immune system that uses short, invader-derived sequences termed spacers to target invasive nucleic acids. Upon recognition of previously encountered invaders, the can stimulate secondary spacer acquisitions, process known as primed adaptation. Previous studies adaptation have been complicated by intrinsically high interference efficiency most systems against bona fide targets. As such, date has studied within context imperfect sequence...
Bacterial small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) are the most abundant class of post-transcriptional regulators and have been well studied in Gram-negative bacteria. Little is known about functions mechanisms sRNAs high GC Gram-positive bacteria including Mycobacterium Streptomyces. Here, we performed an in-depth study 6C sRNA tuberculosis, which conserved among Forty-seven genes were identified as possible direct targets 15 them validated using vivo translational lacZ fusion system. We found that...
Microplastics (MP) contamination in food and water poses significant health risks. While microbes that form biofilm show potential for removing MP from the environment, no methods currently exist to eliminate these non-degradable human body. In this study, we propose using probiotics adsorb remove ingested within gut. We conducted a comprehensive evaluation of 784 bacterial strains assess their ability 0.1 μm polystyrene particles high-throughput screening method. Among tested strains,...
Bacteria and their metabolites exhibit remarkable diversity, offering substantial potential for industrial biotechnology. However, the low throughput constructing screening bacterial biobanks limits exploration utilization of this diversity. In study, we developed a cost-effective, high-throughput platform biobank construction functional screening. We employed double-ended barcoding strategy, enabling thousands isolates to be pooled simultaneous Nanopore sequencing full-length 16S rDNA...
Although only partially understood, multicellular behavior is relatively common in bacterial pathogens. Bacterial aggregates can resist various host defenses and colonize their environment more efficiently than planktonic cells. For the waterborne pathogen Legionella pneumophila, little known about roles of autoaggregation or parameters which allow cell-cell interactions to occur. Here, we determined endogenous exogenous factors sufficient take place L. pneumophila. We show that isolates...
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats with CRISPR-associated gene (CRISPR-Cas) systems are widely recognized as critical genome defense that protect microbes from external threats such bacteriophage infection. Several isolates of the intracellular pathogen Legionella pneumophila possess multiple CRISPR-Cas (type I-C, type I-F and II-B), yet targets these remain unknown. With recent observation at least one (II-B) plays a non-canonical role in supporting replication,...
The coat protein I (COPI) complex mediates retrograde trafficking from the Golgi to endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Five siblings with persistent bacterial and viral infections defective humoral cellular immunity had a homozygous p.K652E mutation in γ1 subunit of COPI (γ1-COP). disrupts binding KDEL receptor impairs retrieval KDEL-bearing chaperones ER. Homozygous Copg1K652E mice increased ER stress activated T B cells, poor antibody responses, normal numbers cells that proliferated normally,...
Abstract CRISPR-Cas is a bacterial and archaeal adaptive immune system that uses short, invader-derived sequences termed spacers to target invasive nucleic acids. Upon recognition of previously encountered invaders, the can stimulate secondary spacer acquisitions, process known as primed adaptation. Previous studies adaptation have been complicated by intrinsically high interference efficiency most systems against bona fide targets. As such, date has studied within context imperfect sequence...
Salmonella infections, often acquired through contaminated food or water, pose significant health risks, particularly amid rising antibiotic resistance and the adverse effects of conventional treatments on gut microbiota. This study isolated probiotic Lactiplantibacillus plantarum GOLDGUT-LP618 from healthy human fecal samples, demonstrating its potential against enterica. L. LP618 produced high levels short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) exhibited robust inhibition in vitro. The strain showed...
In healthy adults, the gastrointestinal tract harbours a diverse community of microbes that play critical roles in health and wellbeing. However, we are not born with this microbiome. Over first months years life gut microbiome gradually develops, undergoing process akin to classic primary succession. We here develop ecological theory order study factors drive these assembly processes. find interactions between species can enforce on development, interspecies dependencies driving...