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
Our recent PNAS publication highlighting our discovery of a new peptide class in fungi, alongside the Drott and Pringle Labs, was featured in 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!
Congratulations to Ben Haefner and Harrison Estes for completing their Ph.D. preliminary exams!
A special congratulations to the recent graduates of the Keller Lab: Dr. Grant Nickles, Dr. Dante Calise, Dr. Nayanna Mercado, Dr. Justin Eagan, and Roberto Regaldo, MS!
Check out the recent article featuring Nancy and others on Exploring Drug Discovery and Development magazine https://www.drugdiscoverynews.com/warring-fungi-produce-new-drugs-for-cancer-and-infectious-disease-15330
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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