Bacterial biofilms are medically and environmentally significant. Yunrong Chai is interested in understanding fundamental mechanisms controlling bacterial biofilm formation and the role of beneficial biofilms in bacteria-host interactions. He is also interested in inhibitory mechanisms targeting key processes during bacterial biofilm development. He uses Bacillus subtilis and other related Bacilli species as model systems.
Publications
- Google Scholar
- Yan F, Yu Y, Gozzi K, Chen Y, Guo JH, and Chai Y. (2017) A genome-wide investigation on biofilm formation and biological control in Bacillus cereus. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 83(13):e00561-17.
- Gozzi K, Ching C, Paruthiyil A, Zhao Y, Godoy-Carter C, and Chai Y. (2017) Bacillus subtilis utilizes the DNA damage response to manage multicellular development. npj Biofilms and Microbiomes. 3:8.
- Gao T, Greenwich J, Li Y, Wang Q, and Chai Y. (2015) The bacterial tyrosine kinase activator TkmA contributes to biofilm formation largely independent of the cognate kinase PtkA in Bacillus subtilis. Journal of Bacteriology. 197:3421-3432.
- Chen Y, Gozzi K, Yan F, and Chai Y. (2015) Acetic acid acts as a bacterial volatile signal to trigger biofilm formation. mBio. 6:e00392.
- Subramaniam AR, DeLoughery A, Bradshaw N, Chen Y, O’Shea E, Losick R, and Chai Y. (2013) A serine sensor for multicellularity in a bacterium. eLife. 2:e01501
Awards & Recognition
- NSF CAREER Award
In The News
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News
Spotted in the Windy City: huskies swept away by groundbreaking research
Northeastern University students traveled to Chicago to attend the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s annual meeting.