Research Interests
The long-term goal of my research is to understand how bacteria influence the behavior of the eukaryotes with which they co-exist. Animal-bacterial associations are ancient and ubiquitous, ranging from host-pathogen to symbiotic relationships.
How have these long-standing relationships shaped the evolution of each partner?
What is the nature of microbial signals that elicit morphogenic responses in eukaryotes and how do they function?
I have chosen to study unique example of a eukaryotic-bacterial interaction in which prey bacteria, Algoriphagus PR1, induce colony formation in the choanoflagellate Proterospongia sp. This research has the potential to uncover molecules and genes important for colony development in the closest known relatives of animals.
