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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

teaching faculty

The Department is seeking application for an Assistant Teaching Professor position, starting Fall 2025. Apply here: https://apply.interfolio.com/163023 

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!

Upcoming Events

Seminars
Dr. Xindan Wang
Orin Smith Auditorium
Speaker:
Dr. Xindan Wang
Seminars
Dr. Keren Lasker
Orin Smith Auditorium
Speaker:
Dr. Keren Lasker
WIP
Brotman Auditorium

Recent Publications

Science translational medicine
Mar, 2025
Rubio AA, Baharani VA, Dadonaite B, Parada M, Abernathy ME, Wang Z, Lee YE, Eso MR, Phung J, Ramos I, Chen T, El Nesr G, Bloom JD, Bieniasz PD, Nussenzweig MC, Barnes CO, ...
Pediatric pulmonology
Mar, 2025
Hayden HS, Nelson MT, Ross SE, Verster AJ, Bouzek DC, Eng A, Waalkes A, Penewit K, Kopp BT, Siracusa C, Rock MJ, Salipante SJ, Hoffman LR, Sanders DB, ...
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Feb, 2025
Wang Y, Gornalusse GG, Siegel DA, Barbehenn A, Hoh R, Martin J, Hecht F, Pilcher C, Semenova L, Murdoch DM, Margolis DM, Levy CN, Jerome KR, Rudin CD, Hladik F, Deeks SG, Lee SA, Browne EP, ...
mBio
Feb, 2025
Reichhardt C, Matwichuk ML, Lewerke LT, Jacobs HM, Yan J, Parsek MR
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Feb, 2025
Turcotte EA, Kim K, Eislmayr KD, Goers L, Mitchell PS, Lesser CF, Vance RE
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Feb, 2025
Nickols WA, Schwabl P, Niangaly A, Murphy SC, Crompton PD, Neafsey DE

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