Molecular Microbiology
Ece Karatan
Assistant Professor
Ph.D. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
B.S. Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics; Bogazici University; Istanbul, Turkey
Rankin North 319
Telephone (828) 262-6742
Fax (828) 262-2127
karatane@appstate.edu
Website: http://www1.appstate.edu/~karatane
Professional Experience:
- Postdoctoral; Biosciences Division; Argonne National Laboratory; Argonne, IL.
- Postdoctoral; Geographic Medicine and Infectious Diseases; Tufts - New England Medical Center; Boston, MA.
Areas of expertise:
- Biofilm formation in bacteria
- Bacterial signaling mechanisms
- Polyamine synthesis and transport in bacteria
Research:
Bacteria are incredibly versatile in the number of strategies that they utilize to deal with the changing conditions in their environments. I am mainly interested in studying how bacteria use these strategies to sense and respond to their environments. What signals do they respond to? Which signal transduction networks are responsible for sensing and processing the various types of signals? What are the physiological, behavioral and gene expression changes that occur as a result of these signals? We are asking these questions in the context of biofilm development by the aquatic bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Biofilms are surface-attached microbial communities encased in a self-made polysaccharide matrix. Biofilm formation has been implicated to play role in the survival of V. cholerae in its natural habitats. Thus, studying how this behavior is regulated should yield insights into the physiology and ecology of this organism.
Selected Publications:
McGinnis, M.W., Parker, Z.M., Walter, N.E., Rutkovsky, A.C., Cartaya-Marin, C., and Karatan, E. (2009) Spermidine regulates Vibrio cholerae biofilm formation via transport and signaling pathways. FEMS Microbiol Lett 299: 166-174.
Karatan, E., and Watnick, P. (2009) Signals, regulatory networks, and materials that build and break bacterial biofilms. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 73: 310-347.
Karatan E., Duncan, T., Watnick PI. 2005. NspS, a predicted polyamine sensor, mediates activation of Vibrio cholerae biofilm formation by norspermidine J. Bacteriol. 2005 187(21):7434-43.
Kierek-Pearson K. and Karatan E. Biofilm Development in Bacteria. 2005. In: Advances in Applied Microbiology, Laskin, AI., Bennett, JW., and Gadd, MG. (Ed) Elsevier Inc. Vol. 57 pp. 79-112
Kapfhammer D., Karatan E., Pflughoeft K.J., Watnick P.I. 2005. Role for glycine betaine transport in
Vibrio cholerae osmoadaptation and biofilm formation within microbial communities. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. Jul; 71(7):3840-7.
Fluorescent micrographs of wild-type and mutant Vibrio cholerae biofilms
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