Unlocking Nature's chemical treasure chest

Two scientific frontiers motivate my research.

First, microbes are enormously talented chemists. In addition to carrying out a dizzying array of chemical transformations required to maintain life, microbes are prolific producers of specialized metabolites (SMs), compounds that mediate conditionally important biological and ecological processes and serve as a launchpad for the development of chemotherapeutics. Despite decades of research, however, the number of SM-producing gene clusters remains vastly greater than the number of known SM scaffolds, suggesting that Nature harbors vast, untapped chemical diversity.

Second, we are more of a biological community than a single organism. Our cells are outnumbered 10:1 by microbes living in and on our bodies. Comprising thousands of microbial species, our microbiota are recognized as key drivers of human health. Although the composition of human microbiota has been rigorously described, the function of human microbiota, including its chemical ecology, remains poorly understood.

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To address these gaps in knowledge, I probe bacterial chemical diversity using genetics, genomics, and analytical chemistry techniques. Primarily, I focus on Streptococcus mutans, a major constituent of dental plaque and a key driver of dental cavities, to unveil SMs of significance in the chemical ecology of oral microbiota. Secondarily, I use synthetic biology techniques and a novel small molecule tagging strategy to discover SMs bearing the biologically-rare terminal alkyne moiety. Through these projects, I hope to reveal microbial SMs relevant to human health and expand our knowledge of Nature's chemical inventory.