My project is centered around a functional genomics approach to screening prominent members of the gut microbiome, Bacteroidales, and identifying genes and/or pathways involved in drug responses (antibiotic and human-targeted). This is achieved through the platform developed by my PI, Boba-seq (Barcoded Overexpression BActerial shotgun sequencing). The platform allows for a high-throughput mechanism to identify fitness-conferring gene hits in a diverse, understudied, and health-relevant group of bacteria. This not only gives insight into how Bacteroidales deal with such stressors that are commonly encountered in the human body but also uncovers several facets about the cellular processes within this group. Additionally, I am working on characterization of a lipid-biosynthetic gene cluster that was identified in the initial Boba-seq screening, which confers a tolerance towards bile acids.

Yolanda Huang, PhD