Wesener Lab
Principal Investigator: Darryl A Wesener
Institution: The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: ✅ Accepting PhD Students ✅ Hiring Postdocs
Research Focus
PROJECT SUMMARY Microbial carbohydrate metabolism is typically assayed by measuring biomass accumulation in pure cultures on a defined carbon source. This approach may obscure what occurs in natural microbial communities where cooperation or competition with other species may exist, where metabolic intermediate are generated that other species may utilize, and it ignores the physical features of the environment where that community resides. Humans host a taxonomically and functionally diverse microbial community in their gastrointestinal tracts that is influenced by multiple intrinsic and extrinsic factors that remain ill-defined. Extrinsic carbohydrate nutrients (diet- or host-derived) can support the growth of microbes that can access and utilize those nutrients. How bacteria intrinsically alter the nutrient landscape of their environment and how/whether active bacterial processes promote competition or cooperation for carbohydrate nutrients remains unclear. We have identified oligosaccharide intermediates produced during dietary plant polysaccharide (fiber) degradation that are structurally modified by bacteria before being released into the environment. We hypothesize that sele…
Active NIH Awards
- 1R35GM162369-01: Oligosaccharide cross-feeding and competition in microbial communities (2026)
- 5R00AT011374-05: Human gut bacterial cell surface polysaccharides as a microbial nutrient source and target of immunoregulatory proteins shape gut microbiota structure and function (2025)
- 5R00AT011374-04: Human gut bacterial cell surface polysaccharides as a microbial nutrient source and target of immunoregulatory proteins shape gut microbiota structure and function (2024)
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