Danielle Garsin, Ph.D. 1999, Harvard University UT-Houston Medical School Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Contact Information Biographical Sketch

Research Interests: Host/pathogen interactions; virulence determinants of E. faecalis; C. elegans immune response

The research in my laboratory is directed at understanding the genetics of bacterial infection from both the pathogen and host’s perspectives. Specifically we have developed C. elegans as a model host for elucidating mechanisms of Enterococcus faecalis pathogenesis. We are studying newly identified E. faecalis virulence factors found by screening for attenuation in C. elegans, as well as continuing to screen for more. In addition to following up on previous studies that implicated the insulin signaling pathway in C. elegans’ resistance, we will continue the search for novel genetic determinants involved in immune response.

Projects that a student could work on in my laboratory include continued characterization of factors found to attenuate E. faecalis infection in both the nematode and mouse, screening for new factors, or working on C. elegans’ resistance factors.
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Garsin, D. A., J. Urbach, J. C. Huguet-Tapia, J. E. Peters, F. M. Ausubel (2004). Construction of an Enterococcus faecalis Tn917-mediated gene disruption library offers insight into Tn917 insertion patterns. Journal of Bacteriology. 186, 7280-7289.

Garsin, D. A.: Microbiology. Peptide signals sense and destroy target cells (2004). Science. 306, 2202-2203.

Garsin, D. A., J. M. Villaneuva, J. Begun, D. H. Kim, C. D. Sifri, S. B. Calderwood and F. M. Ausubel (2003). Long-lived C. elegans daf-2 mutants are Resistant to Bacterial Pathogens. Science. 300, 1921.

Sifri, C. D., E. Mylonakis, K. V. Singh, X. Qin, D. A. Garsin, B. E. Murray, F. M. Ausubel, S. B. Calderwood (2002). Virulence Effect of Enterococcus faecalis Protease Genes and the Quorum-Sensing Locus fsr in Caenorhabditis elegans and Mice. Infection and Immunity. 70, 5647-5650.

Kim, D. A., R. Feinbaum, G. Alloing, F. E. Emerson, D. A. Garsin, H. Inoue, M. Tanaka-Hino, N. Hisamoto, K. Matsumoto, M. Tan, F. M. Ausubel (2002). Requirement for p38 MAP Kinase Signaling Pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans Immunity. Science. 297, 623-626.

Garsin, D. A., C. D. Sifri, E. Mylonakis, X. Qin, K. V. Singh, B. E. Murray, S. B. Calderwood and F. M. Ausubel (2001). A simple model host for identifying Gram-positive virulence factors. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 98, 10892-10897.

Program Affiliation:
Program in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics