Principal Investigator
Kit Pogliano
Professor and Chair of Molecular Biology
Postdoc
Javier Lopez-Garrido (aka Emperor Don Javier)
I am interested in understanding how bacteria organize their cellular content. The process of sporulation in Bacillus provides an excellent model to tackle this question. During sporulation, the membrane of the mother cell migrates around the forespore in a phagocytosis-like process known as engulfment. I pursue to understand how different protein complexes interact to coordinate membrane movement during engulfment, using a combination of genetics, proteomics and cell biological tools.
Anne Lamsa (on the right)
I am interested in determining the mechanism of action of antibiotics and secondary metabolites through fluorescence microscopy.
Graduate Students
I study how metabolic processes are compartmentalized and coordinated between the mother cell and the forespore during sporulation of Bacillus subtilis. I’m also interested in defining additional mechanisms that generate asymmetric gene expression in these two compartments.
Ranmali Perera (on the left)
Secondary metabolites are key molecules essential for mediating interactions between microbes. I am interested in learning how the process of secondary metabolite detoxification plays a role in interspecies interactions.
I am a joint student with Elizabeth Villa and work towards elucidating mechanisms driving engulfment and chromosome translocation in B.subtilis by using high resolution modality of cryo-electron tomography.
Undergraduate Students
Past Lab Members
Diana Quach
Graduate Student, Bioengineering
Julieta Aguilar
Postdoc, Biological Science
Matt Lundberg
Postdoc, Biological Sciences
Rachelle (Smith) Trial
Postdoc, Biological Sciences