Gary Dunny

Gary Dunny

GARY M. DUNNY

Emeritus Professor
Microbiology Immunology and Cancer Biology Program

PhD, University of Michigan, 1978

dunny001@umn.edu
med.umn.edu/bio/microbiology/gary-dunny

Research Interests

Expression of genetic transfer functions and the regulation of virulence in gram-positive bacteria; regulatory mechanisms involving cell-cell signaling by peptide mating pheromones.

Bio

Gary Dunny studies the regulation of expression of genetic transfer functions and the regulation of virulence in gram positive bacteria. His lab is especially interested in regulatory mechanisms involving cell-cell signaling by peptide mating pheromones andl novel intracellular regulatory RNA molecules that control expression of genes involved in conjugative plasmid transfer. Additional projects in the lab are focused on functional genomics of enterococci, with special emphasis on biofilm formation, antibiotic resistance and virulence.

Arkady Khodursky

Arkady Khodursky

ARKADY KHODURSKY

Associate Professor
Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics

PhD, Biophysics, University of California Berkeley, 1997

khodu001@umn.edu
cbs.umn.edu/contacts/arkady-b-khodursky

Research Interests

Functional genomics, analysis of gene expression patterns, microarray applications; signal processing in relation to gene position on the chromosome. Mechanisms of adaptation in antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genomic landscape of starvation-recovery transitions in bacterial populations.

Bio

In his research, Arkady Khodursky focuses on mechanisms of adaptation in antibiotic resistant bacteria and the genomic landscape of starvation-recovery transitions in bacterial populations. His lab recently began investigating metabolic consequences of the acquired antibiotic resistance using topologically constrained metabolic modelling with the goal of identifying key modulators of the phenotypic variation. The lab also develops and tests experimental designs and statistical approaches to the basic analysis of transcriptomics data.

Friedrich Srienc

Friedrich Srienc

FRIEDRICH SCRIENC

Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

PhD, Biotechnology, Technical University Graz, 1980

srienc@umn.edu
cems.umn.edu/people/faculty/friedrich-srienc

Research Interests

Fundamental processes of gene expression, protein synthesis, and metabolic networks and how these relate to the growth physiology of cells. Flow cytometry to measure properties at the single cell level and to monitor and control cultures in bioreactors.

Bio

Friedrich Srienc’s research focuses on the physiology of cell growth and the formation of certain cell products of interest in microorganisms. His lab’s research extends into both experimental approaches and theoretical tools with the goal of obtaining experimental data on the composition of individual cells and how this composition is distributed within the population of cells.

BTI Faculty Members Dan Knights and Kechun Zhang Named 2015-2017 McKnight Land-Grant Professors

Please join us in congratulating Assistant Professors Dan Knights and Kechun Zhang, who were among the eight recipients of the 2015-2017 McKnight Land-Grant Professorship. The award is designed to advance the careers of promising junior faculty members who demonstrate the potential to make significant contributions to their departments and disciplines.

Dan Knights (BTI/Computer Science & Engineering)
Trillions of bacteria live in our guts, protecting us from infection and aiding our digestion. An imbalance of these bacteria, called dysbiosis, may contribute to obesity, diabetes, cancer, Crohn’s, and many other diseases, yet each person’s bacterial diversity is so distinct that we cannot easily identify when a microbiome is “unhealthy.” In his research, Dan combines expertise in data mining and biology to advance detection and treatment of dysbiosis in obesity and autoimmune diseases.

Kechun Zhang (BTI/Chemical Engineering & Materials Science)
Transforming traditional chemical production into a green and sustainable future is a great challenge facing human society. The current biorefinery process utilizes food resources and is limited by the metabolic capability of natural microorganisms. To enhance the viability of biomanufacturing, Kechun is engineering a new metabolic pathway in industrial yeast for more efficient fermentation of value-added chemicals from lignocellulosic feedstocks such as corn stover, sugar beet pulp, and citrus peel.