The Keller Laboratory
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Welcome to the Keller Lab at UW-Madison!
Welcome to the Keller Lab at UW-Madison!
Our research focus lies in genetically dissecting those aspects of fungi that render them potent pathogens and superb secondary metabolite machines.
We do this by elucidating molecules involved in the virulence of plant, animal, and human pathogenic fungi, while also expressing novel bioactive fungal secondary metabolites for drug development.
News
News
Recently, Dr. Keller was featured on the podcast "The Life Lab by Death Clock," where she discussed molds and mycotoxins, and their impacts on the food supply chain. Curious? Listen here: Spotify Apple Podcasts
Congratulations to Ph.D. student Maddie Michaelis for receiving the NIH NRSA Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Program Traineeship!
Congratulations to Ph.D. student Dante James for receiving the NSF GRFP!
Our recent PNAS publication highlighting our discovery of a new peptide class in fungi, alongside the Drott and Pringle Labs, was featured in:
A YouTube video from SciShow, featuring Hank Green: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNL_C3j1C2A
A briefing from the American Peptide Society: https://americanpeptidesociety.org/research/leaderless-death-caps/
A press briefing published by UW-Madison:
https://ls.wisc.edu/news/the-changing-chemistry-of-invasive-death-cap-mushrooms
Congratulations to Ph.D. student Harrison Estes for receiving the DeLill Nasser Award from the Genetics Society of America!
We are happy to welcome four new PhD students to our lab, with three of them being co-mentored. We look forward to working with you Ava Clark, Dante James, Madeline Michaelis, and Sydney McCauslin!
We are excited to announce that Dr. Nancy Keller has been selected to present the Perkins/Metzenberg Lecture at the 33rd Fungal Genetics Conference in Pacific Grove, California in March 2026!
Public Lab Resources
Public Lab Resources
A custom Aspergillus fumigatus gene regulatory network prediction program, in collaboration with
Dr. Sashmita Roy
Nucleic Acids Research Paper
A repository created by Dr. Grant Nickles containing all fungal ICS BGCs discovered in his research
Nucleic Acids Research Paper
Recent Publications
Recent Publications
Amir Rawa MS, Haefner BJ, Nickles GR, Aguilar-Ramírez E, Keller NP, et al. Genetic Dereplication of Multiple Penicillium expansum Biosynthetic Gene Clusters Reveals Cryptic Penta-Cyclopeptide Production. Journal of Natural Products. 2026.
Park SC, Oster LDS, Golan J, Myers J, Pringle A, Drott MT, Keller NP. Leaderless RiPPs expand the repertoire of fungal secondary metabolites. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2026;123(7):e2529748123.
Carriel CC, Halberg-Spencer SA, Kotvanova M, Pyne S, Park SC, Seo H, et al. A network-based model of Aspergillus fumigatus elucidates regulators of development and defensive natural products of an opportunistic pathogen. Nucleic Acids Research. 2026;54(1):gkaf1439.
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