Faculty

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Eric V. Stabb, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Microbiology
Ph.D. (1997) University of Wisconsin-Madison

Address: Department of Microbiology
828 Biological Sciences
Athens, GA 30602-2605
Phone: (706) 542-2414
E-mail: estabb@uga.edu
COS CV: http://myprofile.cos.com/stabb
PubMed: stabb ev

Research Interests:
My lab studies the light-organ symbiosis between the bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri and the squid Euprymna scolopes, as a model for natural bacteria-animal interactions.  E. scolopes hatchlings lack V. fischeri, which they must obtain from their surroundings.  After infection, the squid carry V. fischeri, and only this bacterium, in epithelium-lined crypts of a specialized light-emitting organ, and both partners alter their gene expression.  Several features make this symbiosis uniquely tractable.  Notably, this natural infection can be reconstituted, so we are able to observe the bacteria and their gene expression in an ecologically relevant context while also in a controlled lab setting.

A main focus of my lab is the regulation and symbiotic role of bioluminescence.  Interestingly, dark (lux) mutants are attenuated in the ability to colonize the E. scolopes light organ.  Moreover, the lux genes responsible for bioluminescence are induced upon entering the symbiosis.  The lux genes are controlled in part by a cell-density dependent pheromone-mediated regulatory circuit often referred to as "quorum sensing".  However, bioluminescence is not simply regulated by cell density, and environmentally responsive regulators also strongly influence pheromone (autoinducer) production.  My lab is seeking to elucidate the complexities of this regulatory web, the environmental factors that ultimately govern lux regulation, the significance of pheromone-mediated communication in these bacterial populations, and the physiological relevance of bioluminescence for the bacteria.

Other research projects in my lab are aimed at: (i) understanding the interspecies signaling by which the host recognizes and responds to V. fischeri, and (ii) developing genetic tools and expanding genomic datasets (including plasmids) for V. fischeri.

For Reviews see:
Stabb, E.V., A. Schaefer, J.L. Bose, and E.G. Ruby. 2008. Quorum Signaling and Symbiosis in the Marine Luminous Bacterium Vibrio fischeri, In S.C. Winans and B.L. Bassler (eds.), Chemical Communication Among Microbes. ASM Press, Washington, D.C. (In press).

Stabb, E.V. 2006. The Vibrio fischeri-Euprymna scolopes light organ symbiosis. In F. L. Thompson, B. Austin and J. Swings (eds.), The biology of Vibrios. ASM Press, Washington, D.C., pp. 204-218.

Stabb, E.V. 2005.  Shedding light on the bioluminescence "paradox". ASM News 71:223-229.