Pharmaceutical Sciences Seminar Series

Sensory Regulation of Bacterial Behaviors

(Drug ACTION Specific Seminar)

• Sampriti Mukherjee, PhD
• University of Chicago

Bacterial responses to self-generated and exogenous stimuli influence their survival, persistence in particular niches, and transitions between individual such as swimming motility and collective behaviors such as development of structured communities encased in extracellular matrix called biofilms. Our overarching research goal is to combine classical bacterial genetics with cutting edge molecular biology, cell biology and systems biology approaches to address fundamental questions about bacterial sensory signal detection, relay, integration, and the consequences to individual and collective behaviors. For example, in one project, using the multi-drug resistant human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa as our model system, we are studying the role of self-generated cues in the regulation of motility in this polar flagellate. While in another project, we are investigating how the exogenous stimulus light, particularly far-red light, represses biofilms, virulence and other behaviors in non-photosynthetic P. aeruginosa. Ultimately, understanding how information encoded in diverse sensory inputs is extracted and integrated to drive transitions between individual and collective behaviors will be foundational for designing successful therapeutic interventions.

Hosted by Jason Peters