Our overarching goal is to understand how bacteria decode and integrate self-generated and environmentally-derived stimuli to control transitions between individual and collective behaviors. Bacterial responses to self-generated and exogenous stimuli influence their survival, persistence in particular niches, and lifestyle transitions, such as alterations between being free-swimming (individual behavior) or existing in structured antibiotic-resistant communities called biofilms (collective behavior). How the information encoded in multiple sensory inputs is extracted and integrated to drive transitions between individual and collective behaviors is largely mysterious. We use bacterial genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, microfluidics, fluorescence microscopy, and genome-scale studies to study fundamental questions about bacterial signal detection, signal relay, signal integration, and the consequences to collective behaviors. Ultimately, understanding how information encoded in diverse sensory inputs drives collective behaviors will be foundational for designing successful synthetic strategies to enhance or to inhibit biofilms and for developing novel therapeutic interventions.
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ , USA
Postdoctoral Fellow - Molecular Biology
2020
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN, USA
PhD - Microbiology
2014
University of Calcutta
Kolkata, India
MS - Microbiology
2009
University of Calcutta
Kolkata, India
BS - Microbiology
2007
Combinatorial control of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm development by quorum-sensing and nutrient-sensing regulators.
Combinatorial control of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm development by quorum-sensing and nutrient-sensing regulators. mSystems. 2024 Sep 17; 9(9):e0037224.
PMID: 39140783
Searching for the Secret of Stickiness: How Biofilms Adhere to Surfaces.
Searching for the Secret of Stickiness: How Biofilms Adhere to Surfaces. Front Microbiol. 2021; 12:686793.
PMID: 34305846
Another battle won in the phage-host arms race: Pseudomonas phage blocks quorum sensing regulator LasR.
Another battle won in the phage-host arms race: Pseudomonas phage blocks quorum sensing regulator LasR. Mol Cell. 2021 02 04; 81(3):420-422.
PMID: 33545057
Photosensing and quorum sensing are integrated to control Pseudomonas aeruginosa collective behaviors.
Photosensing and quorum sensing are integrated to control Pseudomonas aeruginosa collective behaviors. PLoS Biol. 2019 12; 17(12):e3000579.
PMID: 31830037
Bacterial quorum sensing in complex and dynamically changing environments.
Bacterial quorum sensing in complex and dynamically changing environments. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2019 06; 17(6):371-382.
PMID: 30944413
Bacterial Biofilm Material Properties Enable Removal and Transfer by Capillary Peeling.
Bacterial Biofilm Material Properties Enable Removal and Transfer by Capillary Peeling. Adv Mater. 2019 01; 31(4):e1807586.
PMID: 30667139
Bacterial Biofilm Material Properties Enable Removal and Transfer by Capillary Peeling.
Yan J, Moreau A, Khodaparast S, Perazzo A, Feng J, Fei C, Mao S, Mukherjee S, Košmrlj A, Wingreen NS, Bassler BL, Stone HA. Bacterial Biofilm Material Properties Enable Removal and Transfer by Capillary Peeling. . 2019 01; 31(4):e1807586.
PMID: 30667139
Bacterial Biofilm Material Properties Enable Removal and Transfer by Capillary Peeling.
Bacterial Biofilm Material Properties Enable Removal and Transfer by Capillary Peeling. Adv Mater. 2018 Nov; 30(46):e1804153.
PMID: 30368924
Bacterial Biofilm Material Properties Enable Removal and Transfer by Capillary Peeling.
Yan J, Moreau A, Khodaparast S, Perazzo A, Feng J, Fei C, Mao S, Mukherjee S, Košmrlj A, Wingreen NS, Bassler BL, Stone HA. Bacterial Biofilm Material Properties Enable Removal and Transfer by Capillary Peeling. . 2018 Nov; 30(46):e1804153.
PMID: 30368924
The PqsE and RhlR proteins are an autoinducer synthase-receptor pair that control virulence and biofilm development in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
The PqsE and RhlR proteins are an autoinducer synthase-receptor pair that control virulence and biofilm development in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 10 02; 115(40):E9411-E9418.
PMID: 30224496
Searle Scholars Program
2022 - 2025
NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00)
2018 - 2023
Life Sciences Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
2016 - 2019