Welcome to Bennett Lab

My research program uses a multidisciplinary approach to address research questions surrounding bacterial development.  Students in my lab learn a variety of techniques in the framework of challenging independent research projects.  We employ research methods in microbiology, microscopy, molecular biology, bioinformatics, biochemistry, and analytical chemistry.  Each project is open-ended and well-suited to the development of a senior thesis defense.

Streptomyces Development

Our laboratory studies development of pharmacologically important soil bacteria within the genus Streptomyces.  Streptomycetes are gram-positive bacteria found in soils worldwide.  They produce over two-thirds of the commercially important antibiotics.  The life cycle commences with the formation of a branching, vegetative mycelium that grows along the soil surface and into the soil.  As the colony matures, a fuzzy, white network of aerial hyphae grows away from the substrate surface and is then divided into chains of evenly spaced cells.  These chains of cells mature into gray-pigmented spores which ultimately break apart into free spores to begin the cycle again. 

Bacterial Signaling

Bacteria interact with the environment through chemical signals.  Our laboratory is especially interested in further elucidating the cyclic di-GMP second messenger signaling pathway in Streptomyces.  An external signal, referred to as the primary message binds to receptors on the bacterial cell surface.  This results in the amplification of the signal through the creation of a second messenger molecule, in this case the second messenger is a cyclic di-nucleotide of RNA called cyclic di-GMP.  Cyclic-di-GMP is created by an enzyme that contains a GGDEF domain called a diguanylate cyclase and broken down by an EAL domain-containing phosphodiesterase.  Cyclic di-GMP then binds to a target molecule, either a mRNA called a riboswitch or a protein that is a transcription factor to effect gene expression and elicit a response.  Streptomyces species use cyclic di-GMP signaling to control morphology and development, including aerial mycelium formation, sporulation, and antibiotic production.

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Microbiome Studies and Antibiotic Discovery

Our laboratory collaborates on projects to identify the microbiomes of animal species and that of the environment.  We also pursue projects that examine the propensity for microbes in the environment to produce novel antibiotics that could be useful in combatting the rise in antibiotic resistance.  By swabbing the environment novel species of bacteria can be isolated and cultured in the lab.  Sanger sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene is a starting point for identifying any bacterial isolates that are able to kill bacteria plated as a lawn in the background.