Biology

Dr. Amitesh Anand
Systems Biology Research Group Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, USA.

Abstract:

Billions of years of evolution have enabled high plasticity to microbial physiology which allows the bacterial system to withstand environmental stresses and restore cellular health. This metabolic plasticity is often undermined due to a lack of knowledge of the distal impact of intraor extra-cellular perturbations. This knowledge gap can be bridged by allowing the cells to adapt under selective pressure for many generations. Another bottleneck is the oversimplified view of the microbial lifestyle. It is widely recognized that the life of bacteria is complex and routinely challenged in natural settings; also, rarely any bacteria live in a homogeneous single species community. Nevertheless, in laboratories bacteria are often cultured and studied in non-natural homogeneous environments that preclude identification of microbial adaptive repertoire. My research work has focussed on overcoming these limitations to elucidate the adaptive rewiring of bacterial bioenergetics and stress response pathways.