Although we are no longer in Wisconsin, we are still avid Badger fans, especially women s basketball. Other favorite pastimes include making trips back to Illinois to visit the grandparents and spending time on their dairy and beef farms. V. parahaemolyticus actively colonizes and spreads over solid surfaces and forms tremendous biofilms. I am interested in the mechanisms used by this organism to attach to surfaces and develop into complex, surface-attached communities. In particular I am interested in the gene products that are involved in these processes and their regulation.
Current work involves the use of genetic, molecular, and microscopy techniques.
Observations of the bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus suggest that calcium levels affect various aspects of bacterial physiology, including growth, colony morphology, and surface colonization properties. I am interested in determining the bacterial processes that are affected by altered calcium levels and how bacteria respond to changes in calcium concentration. Genetic and molecular analyses are being used to identify genes important for growth in high and low calcium environments. Relation of capsular polysaccharide synthesis and colonial cell organization to colony morphology in Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Enos-Berlage, J. L. and D. M. Downs.