NOMURA Microbial Community Control

Research Director: Nobuhiko NOMURA
(Professor, Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba)
Research Term: Oct 2015 - Mar 2020
Grant Number: JPMJER1502

Microbial communities demonstrate a wealth of behavior in response to environmental stimuli due to the variety of and interactions between microbes in these communities. Furthermore, they have a significant impact on human life and well-being, highlighting the need for innovative technologies to control microbial community development.

This project aims to elucidate the behavior of individual bacteria within communities and interactions between communities. We aim to clarify community adaptation to the environment and microbial interactions with other environmental organisms. To achieve this, we will develop novel technologies to image and analyze microbial communities from the individual to the community level. We will clarify the role of heterogeneity and cell-cell interactions within these communities.

Our second aim is to deepen our understanding of multi-species microbe ecology, such as fungi-bacteria interactions, through studying interactions mediated by extracellular particles emitted by bacteria. Finally, we aim to develop new technologies with predictive capabilities of bacterial behavior to control microbial community development.

fig_en1