Description:

Using Conserved Gene Synteny Analysis to Identify Mobile Triclosan Tolerance Genes

Antimicrobial chemicals are added to many consumer care and cleaning products to control microbes, but they may impact communities in complex and sometimes unpredictable ways. One such antimicrobial, triclosan, has been found to increase the abundance of Pseudomonas in mixed bacterial communities. But do all Pseudomonas species increase in abundance? Even highly similar species may have unique mechanisms to resist triclosan. My research examines the broad molecular mechanisms that different species of Pseudomonas employ to resist triclosan by combining traditional molecular biology with next-generation DNA sequencing and high-throughput bioinformatics. A more detailed understanding of how closely related species respond differently to triclosan will further our general understanding of antimicrobials and how they may impact microbial communities during everyday use.