Skip to main content

UW Microbiology

UW Microbiology Home

  • listeria infecting cells

    Cell Biology of Bacterial Infection

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

    Credit: Michelle Reniere

  • 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

  • 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

Dr. Jordan

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

Dr. Meeske - immunologist, virologist

Congratulations to Dr. Alex Meeske on being named a 2024 Rita Allen Foundation Scholar for his work demistifying the genomic 'dark matter' of bacterial immune systems. Click here to learn more about the award the Rita Allen Foundation.

Prof. Lagunoff

Professor Michael Lagunoff has been selected as Co-Director of the Seattle Molecular & Cell Biology PhD program, spanning research labs at UW, FHCC and beyond. Congratulations Dr. Lagunoff!

Prof. Staley

The Department mourns the loss of Jim Staley, who served on the faculty from 1982 until his retirement in 2008. During that time, he wrote and published Microbial Life and Microbiology Dynamics & Diversity, and served as the Founding Director of the Astrobiology Program from 1998-2005. He became a Bergey’s Manual Trustee in 1976, Chair of Bergey’s Trust in 2000, and retired from the Trust at the mandatory age of 70 in 2008, the same year he received the Bergey Medal. During his chairmanship, he initiated and served as President of Bergey's International Society for Microbial Systematics (BISMiS) from 2009 - May 2011. Jim was a member of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) for more than 50 years and received the US Federation of

Upcoming Events

Department Event
Lauren Gonsalvez photo
Brotman Auditorium
Speaker:
Lauren Gonsalves
Department Event
Carley Gray
Pelton Auditorium, Fred Hutch Cancer Center
Speaker:
Carley Gray
Seminar
Dr. Kathryn Fixen
Orin Smith Auditorium
Speaker:
Dr. Kathryn Fixen

Recent Publications

PloS one
2024
Hodor P, Pope CE, Whitlock KB, McDonald PJ, Hauptman J, Hoffman LR, Limbrick DD, Simon TD,
Communications biology
Oct, 2024
Goswami D, Arredondo SA, Betz W, Armstrong J, Kumar S, Zanghi G, Patel H, Camargo N, Oualim KMZ, Seilie AM, Schneider S, Murphy SC, Kappe SHI, Vaughan AM, ...
mBio
Oct, 2024
Gonsalves LJ, Tran A, Gardiner T, Freeman T, Dutta A, Miller CJ, McNamara S, Waalkes A, Long DR, Salipante SJ, Hoffman LR, Wolter DJ, ...
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Oct, 2024
Geiger RA, Khera D, Tenthorey JL, Kochs G, Graf L, Emerman M, Malik HS
Gerontology & geriatrics education
Oct, 2024
Crocker AB, Severance JJ, Murphy SC, Byrd AB
Bone marrow transplantation
Oct, 2024
Ogimi C, Xie H, Waghmare A, Jerome KR, Leisenring WM, Ueda Oshima M, Carpenter PA, Englund JA, Boeckh M
Research square
Sep, 2024
Yadav N, Kalata AC, Reynolds RA, Raappana A, Sather DN, Murphy SC
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Sep, 2024
Bustad E, Petry E, Gu O, Griebel BT, Rustad TR, Sherman DR, Yang JH, Ma S

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