{"id":151,"date":"2016-09-20T09:22:13","date_gmt":"2016-09-20T13:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rjlab\/?page_id=151"},"modified":"2024-09-30T21:03:56","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T01:03:56","slug":"what-we-used-to-study","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rjlab\/science\/what-we-used-to-study\/","title":{"rendered":"What we used to study"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many bacteria are exposed to a variety of environments during their lifecycles.\u00a0 These environments may be both inside and outside the host, and particular signals in these environments may activate expression of genes that result in changes that allow the bacterium to cope more effectively with the specific environment.\u00a0 One of the current aims of research in\u00a0the R-J\u00a0lab is to understand how symbiotic bacteria survive in many distinct environments, including those encountered during the course of interaction with the host, by identifying and characterizing genes that are expressed in each environment.\u00a0 Additionally, the R-J lab has become increasing interested in focusing on a very specialized niche for bacterial life, that of the intracellular environment of a eukaryotic cell.\u00a0 Thus, our primary research aim from 2002-2023 was to determine the physiological requirements for bacteria to live within the eukaryotic host (especially in the intracellular environment) and the bacterial gene regulation in the host environment<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

From 2002-2013, the model system that the R-J lab initially used use to address these problems was the facultative intracellular bacterium Shigella flexneri<\/em>, which encounters many different environments during its journey through the external environment and human host.\u00a0 The conditions in the external environment, including nutrient and ion availability, temperature, moisture, pH, aerobicity, and the presence of other microorganisms, are extremely variable.\u00a0 After ingestion by the human host, Shigella<\/em> must evade the host immune response, survive the acidic stomach, successfully transverse the small intestine to arrive in the colon and infect the colonic epithelial cells, which presents yet another set of distinct environmental conditions.\u00a0 Each of these different environments that Shigella <\/em>encounters may induce the expression of a particular set of genes that allows adaptation to that environment. \u00a0We identified Shigella<\/em> genes that are induced when Shigella<\/em> is in the colonic epithelial cells.\u00a0 This work was the basis for many projects in the R-J laboratory from 2002-2010, which involved characterizing several of these Shigella <\/em>intracellular induced genes.\u00a0 Specifically, the undergraduate research students in the R-J\u00a0lab examined the importance of Shigella <\/em>genes involved in Shigella\u00a0<\/em>adaptation to the eukaryotic cytoplasm.\u00a0 Some of these include genes that encode protein involved in phosphate transport and phosphate-mediated gene regulation , iron and manganese transport,\u00a0iron-sulfur cluster formation, and gene regulation.<\/p>\n

Beginning in 2006,\u00a0The R-J\u00a0lab began working with a second intracellular bacterium that lives inside eukaryotic cells.\u00a0 This bacterium, Sodalis glossinidius,<\/em> is a facultative intracellular bacterium that is a secondary symbiont of the tsetse fly.\u00a0 The Sodalis<\/em> genome has recently been sequenced, and the bacterium is phylogenetically related to E. coli.\u00a0 <\/em>We plan to use this bacterium as a model organism to address the question “What are the physiological requirement for intracellular life, regardless of type of endosymbiosis?”.\u00a0 We studied the the role and regulation of heme, iron, and blood tolerance mechanisms of Sodalis.\u00a0 <\/em>We are completing work that adresses how Sodalis <\/em>utlize sugars, including the chitin-derived N-acetylglucosamine and have just received NIH funding in 2024 to more thoroughly investigate blood tolerance in Sodalis.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

For our current work, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Work in the R-J lab has been supported by the National Institutes of Health<\/a>, the Thomas F. Jeffress and Kate Miller Jeffress Memorial Trust, and the University of Richmond School of Arts and Science.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many bacteria are exposed to a variety of environments during their lifecycles.\u00a0 These environments may be both inside and outside the host, and particular signals in these environments may activate expression of genes that result in changes that allow the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1960,"featured_media":0,"parent":95,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-151","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P7EHZI-2r","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":147,"url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rjlab\/science\/what-we-study\/","url_meta":{"origin":151,"position":0},"title":"What we are currently studying","author":"lrunyenj","date":"September 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many bacteria are exposed to a variety of environments during their lifecycles.\u00a0 Particular signals in these environments may activate expression of genes that result in changes that allow the bacterium to cope more effectively with a specific environment.\u00a0 Past work in the lab sought to understand how symbiotic bacteria survive\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85,"url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rjlab\/","url_meta":{"origin":151,"position":1},"title":"Home","author":"Shaina D'Souza","date":"June 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the web site for the research lab headed by\u00a0Laura Runyen-Janecky, Professor of Biology in the Department of Biology at the University of Richmond. \u00a0We have a\u00a0\u00a0Facebook page is and we have a new instagram account at\u00a0rj_lab_microbes on instagram. \u00a0If you are looking for Laura's personal web site, click\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/rjlab\/files\/2019\/06\/RJ.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/rjlab\/files\/2019\/06\/RJ.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/rjlab\/files\/2019\/06\/RJ.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/rjlab\/files\/2019\/06\/RJ.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/rjlab\/files\/2019\/06\/RJ.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/rjlab\/files\/2019\/06\/RJ.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":168,"url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rjlab\/getting-involved-in-undergraduate-research-in-the-r-j-lab\/","url_meta":{"origin":151,"position":2},"title":"Getting involved in the R-J lab","author":"lrunyenj","date":"September 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Projects:\u00a0 There are many interesting projects in the R-J lab that all revolve around the central question of how bacteria survive and multiply in their environmental home, whether that be a tsetse fly or a piece of cheese.\u00a0 We are currently (2024-2027) working a big NIH-funded project that explores how\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":276,"url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rjlab\/science\/lab-safety-links\/","url_meta":{"origin":151,"position":3},"title":"Lab safety links","author":"lrunyenj","date":"May 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"MSDS Sheets University of Richmond Chemical Hygiene Plan R-J lab Biosafety manual","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88,"url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rjlab\/lab-members\/","url_meta":{"origin":151,"position":4},"title":"Lab Members","author":"Shaina D'Souza","date":"June 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Current Lab Members Former Lab Members","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":124,"url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rjlab\/lab-members\/current-lab-members\/","url_meta":{"origin":151,"position":5},"title":"Current lab members","author":"lrunyenj","date":"September 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar 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