When
April 30, 2026, 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Where
Bio Sciences West, Room 208
Presenter Details
Karina Gutierrez Garcia, Assistant Professor at Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department. University or Arizona
Seminar Information
environment to enhance host fitness. Current models of colonization suggest that this process is non-specific and stochastic. However, I demonstrated that bacterial colonization is highly specific. By employing live imaging of individual symbiotic bacterial cells colonizing the gut of living Drosophila melanogaster, I showed that Lactiplantibacillus plantarum specifically recognizes distinct physical niches within the host gut. I found that this recognition is mediated by a conserved colonization island, present in both commensals and pathogens across Lactobacillales to Clostridia. Additionally, bacterial specialized compounds, such as specialized metabolites and signaling molecules, play a critical role in modulating host-microbe interactions, facilitating successful colonization and niche adaptation. In my future research, I will investigate the evolutionary context of L. plantarum natural products and their influence on interactions with Drosophila.
Seminar Host
Ryan Gutenkunst, MCB
Contacts
Whitney DeGroot