Michael Federle, PhD

I've been hooked on microbial cell-to-cell communication since the day I held a Petri dish with colonies of glow-in-the-dark bacteria. Light production in marine bioluminescent bacteria occurs only after they communicate to one another to do so. In a dark room, it was like gazing at the night sky, full of stars. Since that experience, I've been curious about the molecular mechanisms allowing bacteria to coordinate behaviors, not only to express luciferase, but also to grow in communities and join efforts to overcome barriers that would be impassable if performed by individual cells. We anticipate our studies will have big implications in developing strategies to interfere with bacterial communication, and may lead to new antimicrobial therapies.