Our work on tracking cellular heterogeneity in siderophore gene expression through time and space got published in Cell Reports.
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Bacteria use a wide range of structures and compounds to compete with each other for ecological niches. These competitive mechanisms are either contact independent such as the release of diffusible toxins or contact dependent requiring cell-to-cell contact between the attacker and the receiver. An example of this contact-dependent inhibition is the Type 6 Secretion System (T6SS). The T6SS works as a molecular spear gun that punctures the cell wall of the adversary and thereby injects poisonous effectors into the target cell. The molecular apparatus of T6SS has been extensively studied in well-characterized laboratory strains of Vibrio cholerae or Pseudomonas aeruginosa. However, relatively little is known about the abundance of T6SS and its use among bacteria in natural communities. In this master thesis, you will focus on a collection of natural Pseudomonas bacteria isolated from soil and pond habitats (at Irchel campus). You will screen the isolates for the presence of the T6SS, their capacity to use it to kill a common prey (Escherichia coli), and the ability of environmental strains to use T6SS to outcompete other community members. You will learn several key methods and skills such as the design of high-throughput screening experiments, fluorescent microscopy and flow cytometry to quantify the efficiency of the T6SS in direct competition, and the statistical and graphical analysis of data in the R environment. Moreover, this project could also involve bioinformatic genome analysis depending on time and interest.
This Master project takes part at the UZH Irchel campus. Interested applicants can write to: [email protected] for more information. Starting date: Summer 2024 or upon arrangement. Duration: 12 months We've uploaded a fresh batch of preprints!
1. Impact of biotic and abiotic factors on competitive interactions between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus 2. Predicting bacterial interaction outcomes from monoculture growth and supernatant assays 3. Space and epigenetic inheritance determine inter-individual differences in siderophore gene expression in bacterial colonies 4. A green-fluorescent siderophore protects bacterial communities from UV damage We are pleased to announce the publication of our latest research paper, in which we show the evolution of resistance in S. aureus against inhibitory molecules secreted by P. aeruginosa.
We have a new paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society B!
This work was led by Désirée Schmitz, and examines the ecological dynamics between pathogens and how they affect virulence and host survival. In collaboration with the Bigler lab and our colleagues from Nanjing Agricultural University, we have published a new paper in Metallomics. Congratulations to everyone involved.
We just released a new preprint on competition sensing by P. aeruginosa.
Two new master students joined our lab at the beginning of this year.
Serena Provveduto will work with pathogens isolated from the lungs of children suffering from cystic fibrosis to investigate the evolution of antibiotic resistance. Joel Frommenwiler will focus on antibiotic resistance or virulence factors in bacterial strains present in clinical samples from burn wounds. Welcome to the team. Rolf's review article on mechanisms, ecology, and evolution of Iron acquisition strategies in pseudomonads was published in Biometals.
Priya's excellent work on quorum-sensing activation and coordination in Pseudomonas aeruginosa got published in Current Biology. Congratulations!
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AuthorRolf Kümmerli Archives
April 2024
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