Plant and Microbial Biosciences

Jeffrey Gordon, MD
Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor
- Email: jgordon@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Computational and Systems Biology
Molecular Cell Biology
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Research summary
Role of the human gut microbiome in health and disease, notably childhood undernutrition and obesity
Key words
Gut microbiome; systems biology; postnatal development; childhood malnutrition; global health; gnotobiotic animal models; metabolic regulation; food webs; gut-brain axis; gut barrier/immune function; microbiome-targeted therapeutics

Alex Holehouse, PhD
Assistant Professor
- Email: alex.holehouse@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Computational and Systems Biology
Molecular Cell Biology
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Research summary
Understand how function is encoded into disordered sequences using a combination of computational and experimental approaches
Key words

Feng Sheng Hu, PhD
Richard G. Engelsmann Dean of Arts & Sciences and Lucille P. Markey Distinguished Professor
- Email: deanhu@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Research summary
Understanding patterns and mechanisms of long-term ecosystem dynamics under changing climatic conditions
Key words
ecosystem ecology, quaternary paleoecology, climatic change and biotic response, soil and sediment biogeochemistry

Scott Hultgren, PhD
Helen L. Stoever Professor
- Email: hultgren@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular Cell Biology
Research summary
Interdisciplinary approach combining genetics, genomics, biochemistry, structural biology, high-resolution imaging, animal models, clinical studies and combinatorial chemistry to determine key aspects of bacterial pathogenesis and apply our knowledge to development of new therapeutics.
Key words
antibiotic-sparing therapeutics, host-pathogen interactions, bacterial pathogenesis, drug and vaccine development, multi-drug resistant E. coli, MRSA, Enterococcus, Acinetobacter, Klebsiella, urinary tract infections (UTI)

Joseph Jez, PhD
Spencer T Olin Professor and HHMI Professor
- Email: jjez@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Research summary
Exploring regulatory networks in metabolism - structural biology and biochemistry of plants and microbes
Key words
biochemistry, enzymology, plant biology, protein engineering, protein structure, structural biology

Elizabeth Kellogg, PhD
Member
- Email: ekellogg@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Research summary
Identifying deep similarities among plants as apparently disparate as rice, wheat, maize, and the other cereals
Key words
plant evolution; evo-devo; genomics; phylogeny

Robert Kranz, PhD
Professor
- Email: kranz@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Research summary
Gene regulation and biogenesis of extracellular components in bacteria
Key words
bacteria, gene expression, protein structure, plant biosensors, cytochromes

Barbara Kunkel, PhD
Professor
- Email: kunkel@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Research summary
Molecular genetic analysis of disease development in Pseudomonas syringae-Arabidopsis interactions
Key words
plant-microbe interactions, bacterial pathogenesis, auxin, IAA, Type III effector protein, genetics, plant biology

Sebla Kutluay, PhD
Associate Professor
- Email: kutluay@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Computational and Systems Biology
Research summary
Human immunodeficiency virus-host interactions
Key words

Michele LeRoux, PhD
Assistant Professor
- Email: mleroux@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Molecular Cell Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Research summary
We study how bacterial defend themselves from their viral predators, bacteriophage.
Key words
bacteria, phage, bacteriophage, virus