Single-cell imaging of microbial communities across different spatial and temporal scales

with Jing Yan

Assistant Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
Yale University

Abstract: Biofilm is an important lifestyle of bacteria where bacterial cells collectively form surface-associated aggregates embedded in a polymeric matrix they secrete. Important in industry and medicine, biofilms also represent a unique form of growing active matter with unique physical and material properties. In this talk, I will highlight our recent work on developing a platform for imaging live, growing biofilm at single-cell resolution. We showed how bacterial cells physically communicate with each other and the environment to form ordered architecture reminiscent of nematic liquid crystals. Moreover, we discovered that heterogeneity in gene expression leads to unexpected pattern formation in biofilm through a drag-based sorting mechanism. I will end by highlighting ongoing research in the lab on extending the imaging capability to more natural environments including animal hosts.

Biography: Jing Yan is an Assistant Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and a member of the Quantitative Biology Institute (Qbio) at Yale since 2019. Originally from Shanghai, he obtained his B.S. degree from the College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering at Peking University in China with a focus on organic synthesis. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Working with Steve Granick, he developed novel reconfigurable, active colloidal materials during his Ph.D. In 2014, he moved to Princeton and transitioned to microbiology and quantitative biology as a joint postdoctoral fellow in the department of Molecular Biology and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Working with Bonnie Bassler, Howard Stone, and Ned Wingreen, he studied bacterial biofilms with an interdisciplinary approach. Jing is a recipient of NIH New Innovator’s award, Early Career Award on Marine Microbial Ecology from Simons Foundation, Sloan Fellow in Physics, and Investigator in Infectious Disease and Career Award at the Scientific Interfaces from Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

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