BMOL Seminar Series: Dr. Yftah Tal-Gan

Presenter Information

Speaker: Dr. Yftah Tal-Gan, Professor of Chemistry at University of Nevada, Reno

Short Description of Research: Since joining University of Nevada, Reno in 2014, Dr. Tal-Gan has established a chemical biology research program with the overarching goal of developing and utilizing peptide-based probes to study bacterial communication pathways and their role in bacterial pathogenesis and inter-species competition. This research program is multidisciplinary and spans from organic synthesis and analytical characterization, to biological screening, structural determination of biomacromolecules, and molecular microbiology.

Seminar Details

Host: Dr. Rajesh Nagarajan, Chemistry & Biochemistry

Title: Development of Peptide-Based Tools to Study Cell-Cell Communication in Bacteria

Abstract: Quorum sensing (QS) is a ubiquitous process in bacteria that governs many important symbiotic and pathogenic phenotypes. As such, QS has attracted considerable attention as a means to control bacterial behaviors – attenuate undesired phenotypes, and promote productive processes. Many Gram-positive bacterial species utilize peptide pheromones to induce QS responses and initiate pathogenic phenotypes, such as competence, biofilm formation and virulence factor production. We investigate the molecular mechanisms that drive signal:receptor binding while interrogating the role of QS in the competition between bacterial species. To this end, we develop peptide-based QS modulators with distinct activity profiles (selective vs. pan-species modulators; inhibitors vs. activators) and utilize them to determine the effects of QS modulation in both single-species and mixed cultures.

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