Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an obligate human pathogen. However, our understanding of the MTB biology in humans is limited by the difficulty of accessing the sites of infection. Bacterial population genetics provides mechanistic insights into the biology of MTB in people. We have leveraged MTB population genetics to identify genes that are evolving to increase the bacterium’s ability to survive drug pressure. This analysis has revealed a novel regulatory circuit governing the integration of chromosomal replication and cell division. Genetic variation in the circuit components alters cell cycle and the ability to restart growth after antibiotic stress.
Past PMB Endowed Lectures
For a schedule of all Plant & Microbial Biology events, seminars, and lectures visit our calendar.
Arnon Lecture: Photoprotection of photosynthesis through cyclic electron transport in chloroplasts
Cyclic electron transport around photosystem-I, and the associated cyclic photophosphorylation process in chloroplasts is enabled by two pathways, which depend on the PGR5 protein and the chloroplast NADH dehydrogenase-like complex, respectively. When both pathways are defective, photosynthesis and plant growth are significantly impaired. The pgr5 mutant of Arabidopsis is particularly sensitive to fluctuations in light intensity, which can lead to photodamage of photosystem-I. The lecture will discuss the molecular mechanism of the photoprotection of photosystem-I, afforded by this cyclic electron transport process.
[Tsujimoto Lecture] Phenomics of Stomata and Water Use Efficiency in C4 crops
The Leakey group takes an integrative approach to understanding and improving the water use efficiency of C4 grasses. The talk will highlight recent work in physiology, genomics, genetics, agronomy that exploits new AI-enabled phenotyping techniques.
[Buchanan Lecture] The “endless forms”: Genetics, development, and evolution of flower diversity
In this talk I will discuss the use of monkeyflowers to probe the genetic and molecular bases of floral trait variation among species, to characterize the developmental mechanisms of pattern formation, and to test the adaptive significance of floral trait variation in the evolution of pollination syndromes.