I am excited to share the first story from my lab @MicrobiologyOSU. The question: Can/how do bacteria in the gut respond to abiotic carbohydrate nutrients (i.e., no selective pressure)? Spoiler alert, bacteria are amazing and they can!!

We have an amazing community @OhioState @MicrobiologyOSU @OSUmicrobiome with wonderful and supportive colleagues who have been really fun to discuss this project with. Come join me! WE ARE HIRING MICRO FACULTY @MicrobiologyOSU

This work provides a proof-of-concept for how designer carbohydrate nutrients could be identified to selectively modulate microbiota structure and function, and a roadmap to improve their activity.

We quantified the degradation of SG10 by multiple B. intestinalis glycoside hydrolases upregulated in mice @BHenrissat and determined that exo-activity liberates free arabinose that can be consumed using an arabinose utilization loci in the upregulated arabinan PUL.

As B-L-arabinose is rather rare in nature, we found this interesting and investigated it more. We used ingestible biosensors of glycan degradation, recombinant protein activity assays, and microbiology to determine how B. intestinalis degrades SG10.

We found that B. intestinalis responded transcriptionally by upregulating multiple polysaccharide utilization loci (PULs), including ones that target natrual plant glycans like arabinan, but also a loci enriched in genes predicted to encode GH enzymes that target B-L-arabinose.

Screening multiple synthetic (abiotic) glycans (SG) revealed one that increased the abundance of human gut Bacteroides. Supplementing SG10, synthesized from L-arabinose, to gnotobiotic animals altered the absolute abundances of multiple bacteria, most notably B. intestinalis.

We started this while I was a Postdoc @washumedicine and Megan Hill @OhioState is my first student. What is an abiotic oligosaccharide? It is a carbohydrate synthesized chemically that is not beholden to the rules of biology. Thermodynamics and kinetics influence its structure.

We are hiring at the Assistant Professor level in the Dept of Microbiology at The Ohio State University. We are looking in the area of microbial cell biology. This is broad and can encompass many, many areas of research. Please share!.

RT @PhilipAhern: We have a postdoc opening in our group at the Cleveland Clinic available to start immediately!. The project will focus on….

Incredibly Supportive Dept ✅ .Great University ✅.Spectacular UG and Grad Students👍.Strong start-up package 💰.Renovated lab space 🏰.Superb shared facilities ✅.

Come join me @OhioState @MicrobiologyOSU!! Two positions are currently posted. <-- Assistant/Associate Prof. with a focus on Molecular Microbiology.<-- Eminent Scholar in Industrial Microbiology.

Stay tuned for updates along the way as we travel together on this journey. Thanks for all your support!.

We are building a team of undergrads, graduate students, postdocs, and research assistants to investigate i) microbial cross-feeding on bacterial polysaccharides in the gut microbiota and ii) consequences and mechanisms of bacterial carbohydrate antigen recognition in the gut.

Thrilled to share I have started as an Assist. Prof. @MicrobiologyOSU at @OhioState. I have been fortunate to have great mentors and colleagues who supported me tirelessly, including but not limited to Profs. Jeffrey Gordon & @ChemicalBiology plus @WUSTLmed & @UWBiochem.

RT @KlassenLab: .@wesenerd_ (@jgordonlab): Developed indigestible chemical probes. Tag fluorescent particles with a nutrient, recover after….

Huge congratulations to @anjitru on receiving this @UWMadisonChem award in recognition of all of your amazing research using #massspectrometry and role as a #mentor to so many!.

RT @Ccowardin: Definitely had a "whoaaa biology is amazing" moment watching this #cryptosporidium #infectiousdisease #organoid #gutpathogen….

Really fun collaborating with @AshleyRWolf on this!. Combination of #foodscience #chemistry #biology & #genomics to define how food processing and preparation effect #microbiota structure and function.