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When we think about bacteria, we don’t really think about the sufferings and struggles they go through when they fight to keep their homes. Dr. Michele LeRoux explains how bacteria interact with one another as they compete for environmental resources. She focuses on the Type Six Secretion System (T6SS), a protein complex in the membrane of some strains of bacteria that is used to fight and outcompete other bacteria. Studying this system in Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, she discovered that when these bacteria encounter other bacteria with T6SS, they are able to increase the amount of activated T6SS in their membranes. She noticed that Pseudomonas Aeruginosa could sense the death of sibling bacteria, which would activate their defense system. This novel immune response mechanism in bacteria provides insight on the bacterial responses to harmful cues.
Speaker Biography:
Dr. Michelle LeRoux completed her Bachelor's degree in Molecular Biology at Colgate University, NY. She joined the Molecular and Cellular Biology doctorate program at University of Washington, where she worked with Dr. Joseph Mougous and studied bacterial social behavior and interspecies warfare. She joined Dr. Michael Laub’s lab at MIT as a postdoctoral associate and continues studying the molecular mechanisms of bacterial life.