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 Leadership for sponsoring my summer research project on advancing precise microbiome editing. I grew so much as a scientist and researcher during this program, whether that's learning how to plan my own experiments, interpreting and visualizing data, or even improving on my scientific communication skills. I wouldn't have been able to get to where I am now on my science journey without your tremendous support, and I am so grateful to have come out of this fellowship confident and empowered to lead within academia.