Julianne Tenorio L&S Biological Sciences
Harnessing Bacteriocins as a Selection System for Microbiome Editing
Microbiome editing provides an avenue to study gene functions within microbial communities, exposing us to the potential of applications for human climate health. Most gene editing approaches rely on antibiotics to select for edited cells. However, most antibiotics exhibit broad antimicrobial activity and profoundly disrupt community composition. Therefore, precise microbiome editing requires alternative selection systems that select for edited cells while sparing other bacterial species of the community.
Bacteriocins are small antimicrobial peptides naturally produced by most bacteria and some archaea to inhibit the growth of competing, closely related bacterial strains. Bacteriocins are very specific and can selectively eliminate target bacteria, which makes them a promising tool for selecting edited cells during microbiome editing. This project aims to integrate CRISPR-Associated Transposon (CAST)-based genome engineering with bacteriocins to self-select for edited cells in microbial communities to uncover the potential of bacteriocins as selection tools for microbiome editing.
Message To Sponsor
Thank you so much for supporting me in my summer research endeavors! It is truly because of this program and your contributions that I am able to continue expanding on my lab skills, learning how to design independent experiments, and refining my data analysis. I am so grateful to have this opportunity to continue working and making significant progress on this project that has so much potential in the fields of climate change and human health.