Event Date
Speaker: Max Traxler, Associate Professor
Speaker Bio: Bacteria are incredible biochemists, capable of producing molecules with functions that range from interspecies communication to all-out chemical warfare. One group of bacteria, the actinomycetes, has been the deepest source of these natural products, and they have the genetic capacity to give us many more. The goals of our work are to understand the molecular and ecological drivers of specialized metabolism in the context of microbial interactions. In this talk, I will describe our recent work examining quorum sensing that controls specialized metabolism in the model actinomycete, Streptomyces coelicolor. We find that in colonies of this organism, the quorum sensing circuit is structured as synchronized oscillator. that leads to periodic spatial patterns of gene expression for the production of antibiotics. I will also present our findings about molecules made during microbial interactions, and discuss how microbial interactions can be a source for novel molecule discovery.
Institution: Dept. of Plant and Microbial Biology, UC Berkeley
Seminar Title: Talking to themselves and others: how interactions drive specialized metabolism in actinomycete bacteria
About the Series
The Plant Biology Graduate Group Events series brings researchers and trainees together to explore advances across plant biology, from molecules to ecosystems. Hosted by the Plant Biology Graduate Group, these events foster interdisciplinary exchange, professional development, and community around plant-focused research.