Research Focus

STUDY SYSTEMS: Marine nematode-bacterium symbioses, oral cavity symbionts

QUESTIONS & APPROACHES:

• How do host and symbiont coordinate their reproduction?

- Molecular mechanisms of growth and division of symbiont cells

(via immunostaining/high-resolution microscopy, and ectopic and vitro expression of symbiont cell division and cytoskeletal proteins)

- Developmental adaptations of the host to inter- and intra-generational symbiont transmission 

(via host cultivation and microscopic analysis, and comparative omics of host developmental stages)

 

• How are host and bacterial immune systems regulated?

- Comparative omics of host symbiotic versus non-symbiotic tissues.

Ongoing projects

Former projects