Laboratory of Molecular Genetics of Microorganisms

Our laboratory studies how bacteriophages interact with the cells they infect. We are especially interested in how transcription is regulated in infected cells and how the various bacterial immune systems work. Our favorite model organism is the hyperthermophilic bacterium Thermus thermophilus, which we believe has been unfairly overlooked by the scientific community — and this website is our attempt to make up for that. We maintain the world's largest collection of live bacteriophages infecting T. thermophilus, an extensive collection of strains isolated from environmental samples, and a great deal of hands-on experience with both. A database of the strains and phages in our collection is coming to this site soon, so stay tuned!