Experimental Models

Microbiology

Bacteria engulfed by Tetrahymena (Aijaz & Koudelka, 2017).

Bacteria engulfed by Tetrahymena (Aijaz & Koudelka, 2017)

Study of microorganisms, viruses, bacteria, and protozoans

Faculty study the ecology of microorganisms including how bacteria use phage-encoded toxins to evade protozoan predators, how the protozoan Tetrahymena uses chemosensation to find food, and how transcription termination regulates gene expression in Bacillus subtilis.  Other microbiology faculty study how filamentous fungi and budding yeast adapt to their environments. Faculty in Microbiology include Drs. Marcella Baiz, Paul Cullen, Andrea Keeler, Gerald Koudelka, Laura Rusche, Scott Santos, Eric Strobel, and, Zhen Wang.