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SUMMARY:Changing Color Matters: Roles for Redox-Active “Antibiotics” i
 n Microbial Survival and Development
DTSTART:20180925T161500
DTSTAMP:20260528T175153Z
UID:237788f9cac8ded5050e54140b1852be450634d96d71612d0a7a6701
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Dianne K. Newman\, Caltech\, Pasadena\, CA (USA)\nDISTIN
 GUISHED LECTURE IN BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING\n\nAbstract:\nBacteria are color
 ful\, both literally and figuratively. And some change color depending on 
 what is present in their environment. Take the case of Pseudomonas aerugi
 nosa\, whose cultures toggle between blue-green and clear. The name “ae
 ruginosa” derives from the Latin word for copper rust\, which is of the 
 same blue-green hue. While microbiologists and clinicians have long used c
 olor to identify the organism\, why it is colored in the first place—and
  why its color changes with aeration—is a question that not many have co
 nsidered. Phenazines\, a class of redox-active pigments\, are responsible 
 not only for the blue-green color of P. aeruginosa in the presence of ox
 ygen\, but also for different colors displayed by other Pseudomonas spec
 ies. In the early 20th century\, Ernst Friedheim and colleagues postulate
 d that phenazines are “accessory respiratory pigments” that sustain ba
 cterial “respiration” based on their ability to stimulate oxygen consu
 mption. Their work was carried out before respiratory pathways were fully 
 understood and well before the importance of microbial biofilms in nature 
 and disease was widely recognized. In the interval between Friedheim’s p
 ioneering studies and our recent work\, attention shifted to exploring the
  roles of phenazines as virulence factors. Phenazines came to be known as 
 "secondary metabolites"\, molecules produced at late stages of microbial g
 rowth in laboratory cultures whose function was thought to protect Pseudo
 monas from competitors. While the antibiotic activity of phenazines has b
 een elegantly shown in a variety of contexts\, labeling phenazines as “s
 econdary metabolites” suggests that they are not essential to the growth
  or survival of their producers. In this talk\, I will champion Friedheim
 ’s original hypothesis and extend it. Specifically\, I will discuss our 
 deepening understanding of how phenazines are vital to biofilm populations
  at different stages of their development. Moreover\, it now seems likely 
 that that redox-active pigments made by different microorganisms play simi
 lar roles in diverse contexts.\n\nBio:\nB.A.\, Stanford University\, 1993\
 ; Ph.D.\, Massachusetts Institute of Technology\, 1997. Clare Booth Luce A
 ssistant Professor\, Caltech\, 2000-05\; Associate Professor\, 2005-06\; P
 rofessor\, 2006-16\; HHMI Investigator\, 2005-07\, 2010-16\; Binder/Amgen 
 Professor\, 2016-\; Davis Leadership Chair\, 2017-\; Executive Officer\, 2
 017-.\n 
LOCATION:SV 1717 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==SV%201717
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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