Microbial Pathogenesis

Overview

Technological advancements in DNA sequencing continue to fuel the exponential growth of sequence data resources, transforming the field of infectious disease and facilitating the development of new drugs and diagnostic devices.  Our group employs large scale sequencing and microarray approaches to investigate pathogenic and mutualistic interactions between microorganisms and their hosts. To this end, we have sequenced dozens of fungal, protozoan, and bacterial genomes. Recently, we started a NIAID-sponsored project to provide community genomic resources for Aspergillus fumigatus. The project aims to reveal genomic alterations leading to azole drug resistance and to establish a set of stable markers for population studies and outbreak investigations.  Another eukaryotic project is focused on the digestome of the Formosan termite Coptotermes formosanus and its protozoan symbionts using meta-transcriptome sequencing. Current bacterial projects involve sequencing of multiple isolates of Escherichia coli, sequencing and transcriptome profiling of pathogenic Burkholderias, and identification of quorum-sensing inhibitors encoded within fungal genomes with antibacterial, antifungal, and immunomodulatory activities.

Projects