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UW Microbiology

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  • southlakia epibionticum

    Interspecies Interactions

    The tiny obligate parasitic bacterium Southlakia epibionticum(yellow) cultured on its host bacterium, Actinomyces israelii (blue)

    Image credit: Drs. Larry Gallagher and Joseph Mougous

  • listeria infecting cells

    Cell Biology of Bacterial Infection

    Listeria monocytogenes (green) interacting with macrophages (red/blue). 

    Credit: Michelle Reniere

  • Bacterial Self-Organization

    Bacterial Self-Organization

    Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells that engage (magenta) or don’t (green) in collective behavior spontaneously self organize in cellular aggregates (3D image acquired by confocal laser scanning microscopy).

    Credit: Jeffrey Carey and Matt Parsek

  • phage antagonize CRISPR

    Phage antagonize CRISPR-Cas Immunity

    Cryo-EM structure of a phage-encoded anti-CRISPR protein (blue) in complex with the RNA-targeting CRISPR effector Cas13 (gray) and its guide RNA (red).

    Credit: Alex Meeske

  • uropathogenic

    Emergence of Highly Pathogenic Clones of Escherichia coli

    Genetic typing of uropathogeic E. coli reveals strong association of some clones with high sensitivity or extreme resistance to multiple antibiotics.

    Courtesy: Sokurenko Lab

  • greenberg

    Quorum sensing in Vibrio fischeri

    Lux genes coding for light production are activated by quorum sensing at high cell density. The light produced by the bacteria exposed the film for the image.

    Courtesy: Greenberg Lab

  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa in co-culture

    Pseudomonas aeruginosa in co-culture

    Structural component of bacterial targeting type VI secretion system P. aeruginosa (green) assembled in presence of competitor organism (red).

    Courtesy of: Mougous Lab

  • envelope

    HIV-1 Envelope Evolution

    Reconstructed phylogenetic network of HIV-1 envelope sequences (C2-V5) from subtype B.

    Courtesy of: Mullins Lab

  • biofilm

    Pseudomonas aeruginosa

    Colonies of Pseudomonas aeruginosa expressing different amounts of exopolysaccharides.

    Courtesy of: Harwood Lab

  • yopm

    YopM Crystal Structure

    Crystal structure of the Yersinia virulence protein YopM

    Courtesy of: Cookson Lab

News & Updates

Emerman

During his 36-year career at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Michael Emerman, PhD, an Affiliate Professor in the UW Department of Microbiology, made fundamental discoveries about HIV, the retrovirus that causes AIDS. Over his career, Michael trained 27 graduate students and 16 postdoctoral/medical fellows. He was the MCB graduate program co-director for 8 years, taught graduate virology to countless students since 2005, and organized Thursday morning virus group meeting, which has been active since 1992. Thank you Michael for all you've done for our community. Read more about Michael's legacy here.

2025undergrad-awards

Congratulations to the 2025 Department of Microbiology undergraduate awardees!

Click this link to learn more about the awards and awardees.

matt parsek aaas fellow

Prof. Matt Parsek was named a 2024 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow. Election as a Fellow honors members whose efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications in service to society have distinguished them among their peers and colleagues. Congratulations Dr. Parsek!

 

Dr. Parsek was also featured on The UW Medicine Huddle and the UW NEWS.

 

Dr. Jordan

Assistant Professor Tristan Jordan has been awarded 5 years of funding through the prestigious NIH DP2 New Innovator Award. Congratulations Dr. Jordan!

Recent Publications

Nature
Jul, 2025
Tortorici MA, Choi A, Gibson CA, Lee J, Brown JT, Stewart C, Joshi A, Harari S, Willoughby I, Treichel C, Leaf EM, Bloom JD, King NP, Tait-Burkard C, Whittaker GR, Veesler D, ...
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Jul, 2025
Gokce-Alpkilic G, Huang B, Liu A, Kreuk LSM, Wang Y, Adebomi V, Bueso YF, Bera A, Kang A, Gerben SR, Rettie S, Vafeados DK, Roullier N, Goreshnik I, Li X, Baker D, Woodward JJ, Mougous JD, Bhardwaj G, ...
Journal of virology
Jul, 2025
Simonich CAL, McMahon TE, Ju X, Yu TC, Brunette N, Stevens-Ayers T, Boeckh MJ, King NP, Greninger AL, Bloom JD
Nature chemical biology
Jun, 2025
Rettie SA, Juergens D, Adebomi V, Bueso YF, Zhao Q, Leveille AN, Liu A, Bera AK, Wilms JA, Üffing A, Kang A, Brackenbrough E, Lamb M, Gerben SR, Murray A, Levine PM, Schneider M, Vasireddy V, Ovchinnikov S, Weiergräber OH, ...
Annals of the American Thoracic Society
Jun, 2025
Pittman JE, Morgan S, McCreary M, Vu PT, Jorth P, Heltshe S, Hoffman LR, Kelly A, Sagel SD, Singh PK, Solomon GM, Rosenfeld M, Ratjen F, ...
eLife
Jun, 2025
Kulsuptrakul J, Emerman M, Mitchell PS
The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics
Jun, 2025
Arian CM, O'Mahony ET, Manwill PK, Graf TN, Oberlies NH, Cech NB, Clarke JD, Smith JG, Paine MF, Kelly EJ, Thummel KE, ...
Nucleic acids research
Jun, 2025
Haddox HK, Angehrn G, Sesta L, Jennings-Shaffer C, Temple SD, Galloway JG, Hinrichs AS, DeWitt WS, Bloom JD, Iv FAM, Neher RA, ...

Fast Facts

More than 175 undergraduate majors and 40 graduate students
Five National Academy of Sciences Members
Twelve American Academy of Microbiology Fellows
2023 publications