Symbiosis

Cooperative symbiotic relationships between humans and bacteria have historically been overlooked in the face of our struggle with bacterial pathogens. Yet, the bacteria that call our body “home” aid our survival against these pathogens by, for instance, competing with them for space and nutrients. Examples of cooperative and pathogenic relationships between organisms exist throughout the natural world, and our symbiosis faculty lead the way in studying animal:bacteria symbioses. This cooperative research group uses the colonization of the light organ of the squid Euprymna scolopes by the marine luminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri as a model system to investigate the mechanisms underlying these complex relationships.