John R. Kirby, PhD
Chair, Microbiology & Immunology; Walter Schroeder Professor in Microbiology and Immunology; Associate Director, Microbiome, Linda T. and John A. Mellowes Center for Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine; Associate Director, Center for Microbiome Research
Locations
- Microbiology & Immunology
BSB B2140
Contact Information
General Interests
Education
Research Experience
- Bacteria
- Biofilms
- Chemotaxis
- Computational Biology
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome
- Microbial Interactions
- Microbiota
- Signal Transduction
- Xenobiotics
Methodologies and Techniques
- Cloning, Molecular
- DNA, Bacterial
- Fecal Microbiota Transplantation
- Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
- Genome, Bacterial
- Microbial Interactions
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Sequence Alignment
- Sequence Analysis, DNA
Leadership Positions
- Associate Director, Center for Microbiome Research
- Associate Director, Microbiome, Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine Center
- Chair, Department of Microbiology & Immunology
- Member, Finance Committee, Board of Trustees
Educational Expertise
- Bacterial Physiological Phenomena
- Microbiology
- Microbiota
Research Interests
Microbiome
We are examining the role of xenobiotics for their capacity to disrupt the gut microbiota with deleterious consequences on host physiology and metabolism. Disease models used in the lab are a salt-sensitive rat model for hypertension, a mouse model of diet-induced obesity, and a mouse model of obesity induced by the second-generation antipsychotic risperidone. We perform physiological measurements related to each disease model, fecal material transfers to establish a causal link between the microbiota and disease, and 16S rDNA and metagenomic sequencing to analyze taxonomic and functional composition of the microbiota. Metagenomic analyses allow us to identify and test candidate probiotic strains of bacteria with specific metabolic features that influence the progression of disease. We have filed a patent (US 2020/0016124 A1) based on our work leading to reduction of weight gain and are in discussions to create a startup company.
Predator-Prey Interactions
The above work is a direct product of our understanding of bacterial interactions between Myxococcus xanthus and Bacillus subtilis as a model for microbial predator-prey interactions. Our primary goal is to assess the role of specialized metabolites produced by both the predator and the prey. Detailed molecular mechanisms for predator-prey interactions in vitro provide insights into gut-based systems in rodents and humans.