Research

Our lab's research is focused around 3 main questions:

• How has domestication influenced the genomes and phenotypes of fungi?

Like plants and animals, humans also domesticated bacteria, yeasts, and molds during the agricultural revolution. Though likely unknowingly, humans selected for particular metabolic functions in these microbes in an effort to improve the digestibility, palatability, and longevity of food. Our lab is interested in identifying the phenotypic and genetic targets of microbial domestication. 

• What is the genetic basis of Aspergillus fumigatus pathogenicity?

Nearly 600 fungal species are capable of causing human infections, affecting ~300 million people worldwide. Though most fungal infections are non-life threatening, mortality rates from several species can exceed 50%. Our lab primarily focuses on Aspergillus fumigatus; an opportunistic pathogen that is responsible for the deaths of ~100,000 people annually. We combine functional experiments, molecular biology, population genomics, and functional genomics to better understand the genetic basis of A. fumigatus pathogenicity.

• What is the genetic basis of stress tolerance in Listeria monocytogenes?

Listeria monocytogenes is the major causative agent of the foodborne illness listeriosis. Listeriosis presents as flu-like symptoms in healthy individuals, and can have fatal consequences in children, elderly, pregnant women, and immunocompromised individuals. L. monocytogenes results in ~1,600 illnesses and ~260 deaths each year and is attributed to ~$3 billion in annual medical and food recall costs in the United States. L. monocytogenes is found in relatively higher abundance in a variety of foods, including meat products such as hot dogs, lunchmeats, and cold cuts. Importantly, L. monocytogenes can survive and replicate in stressful conditions (e.g. in the presence of antimicrobial sanitizers, at refrigeration temperatures, at high salt concentrations etc.). We use mutagenesis, experimental evolution, and genomicw to undestand the genetic basis of sanitizer resistance in L. monocytogenes.