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UW Microbiology

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  • 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

Seminar
Dr. Claudia Rueckert
Orin Smith Auditorium
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Dr. Claudia Rueckert
Journal Club
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Speaker:
Jacob Frick
Seminar
Dr. Raphael H. Valdivia
Orin Smith Auditorium
Speaker:
Dr. Raphael H. Valdivia

Recent Publications

PloS one
2024
Hodor P, Pope CE, Whitlock KB, McDonald PJ, Hauptman J, Hoffman LR, Limbrick DD, Simon TD,
Nature microbiology
Oct, 2024
Humphreys IR, Zhang J, Baek M, Wang Y, Krishnakumar A, Pei J, Anishchenko I, Tower CA, Jackson BA, Warrier T, Hung DT, Peterson SB, Mougous JD, Cong Q, Baker D, ...
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Sep, 2024
Shull LM, Wolter DJ, Kunkle DE, Legg KA, Giedroc DP, Skaar EP, Hoffman LR, Reniere ML
PLoS biology
Sep, 2024
Mayfield JA, Raman S, Ramnarine AK, Mishra VK, Huang AD, Dudoit S, Buter J, Cheng TY, Young DC, Nair YM, Ouellet IG, Griebel BT, Ma S, Sherman DR, Mallet L, Rhee KY, Minnaard AJ, Branch Moody D, ...
Nature communications
Sep, 2024
Hergott DEB, Guerra CA, García GA, Mba Eyono JN, Donfack OT, Iyanga MM, Nguema Avue RM, Abeso Nsegue CN, Ondo Mifumu TA, Rivas MR, Phiri WP, Murphy SC, Guthrie BL, Smith DL, Balkus JE, ...
Journal of virology
Sep, 2024
Loes AN, Tarabi RAL, Huddleston J, Touyon L, Wong SS, Cheng SMS, Leung NHL, Hannon WW, Bedford T, Cobey S, Cowling BJ, Bloom JD, ...
PLoS pathogens
Sep, 2024
Kingston NJ, Snowden JS, Grehan K, Hall PK, Hietanen EV, Passchier TC, Polyak SJ, Filman DJ, Hogle JM, Rowlands DJ, Stonehouse NJ, ...
Nature communications
Sep, 2024
Walter M, Haick AK, Riley R, Massa PA, Strongin DE, Klouser LM, Loprieno MA, Stensland L, Santo TK, Roychoudhury P, Aubert M, Taylor MP, Jerome KR, Verdin E, ...

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