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Assistant Professor
Education
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Molecular Biology & Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine
Ph.D. Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Alberta
Kåhrström C.T. 2013. Phages level the playing field. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 11: 300-301. (Link)
Our lab investigates the impact of phages on the evolution and epidemiology of Vibrio cholerae, which is the causative agent of the severe diarrheal disease cholera. As a waterborne disease, cholera is a serious threat in areas of the world where sanitation is poor and access to safe drinking water is limited. Phages that specifically infect and kill V. cholerae are thought to modulate the inter-epidemic persistence of V. cholerae in the environment, thus impacting the occurrence and severity of outbreaks; however, uniquely, these phages also travel with V. cholerae into the human host and continue to prey on their bacterial host during infection. Therefore, phages have the unique potential to impact all aspects of the V. cholerae life cycle (including environmental persistence, infectivity and dissemination), on both a short and long-term evolutionary scale.
Our current focus is towards an understanding of the molecular basis for the anti-phage activity of a group of mobile genetic elements in epidemic V. cholerae. You can find more on our website!
Box A.M., McGuffie, M.J., O’Hara, B.J., and Seed, K.D. 2015. Functional analysis of bacteriophage immunity through a type I-E CRISPR-Cas system in Vibrio cholerae and its application in bacteriophage genome engineering. Journal of Bacteriology. 10.1128/JB.00747-15. (Link)
Dalia, A.B., Seed, K.D., Calderwood, S.B., and Camilli, A. 2015. A globally distributed mobile genetic element inhibits natural transformation of Vibrio cholerae. PNAS. 112:10485-90. (Link)
Seed, K.D. 2014. Battling phages: how bacteria defend against viral attack. PLoS Pathogens. 11(6):e1004847. (Link)
Seed, K.D., Yen, M., Shapiro, B.J., Hilaire, I.J., Charles, R.C., Teng, J.E., Ivers, L.C., Boncy, J., Harris, J.B., and Camill, A. 2014. Evolutionary consequences of intra-patient phage predation on microbial populations. eLife. 3:e03497. (Link)
Notable Media coverage:
- Research Highlight: Molloy S. 2014. In-house dining for phage. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 12 : 658. (Link)
Seed, K.D., Lazinski, D.W., Calderwood, S.B., and Camill, A. 2013. A bacteriophage encodes its own CRISPR/Cas adaptive response to evade host innate immunity. Nature. 494:489-491. (Link)
Notable Media coverage:
- News and Views: Villion M., and Moineau S. 2013. Virology: Phages hijack a host’s defence. Nature. 494:433-434. (Link)
- Research Highlight: Kåhrström C.T. 2013. Phages level the playing field. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 11: 300-301. (Link)
- News article: A Virus That Steals A Bacterium’s Immune System And Uses It As A Weapon. Popular Science, March 4, 2013. (Link)
- News article: The virus that learns. National Geographic Phenomena Blog, February 27, 2013. (Link)
Seed, K.D., Faruque, S.M., Mekalanos, J.J., Calderwood, S.B., Qadri, F., and Camilli, A. 2012. Phase variable O antigen biosynthetic genes control expression of the major protective antigen and bacteriophage receptor in Vibrio cholerae O1. PLoS Pathogens. 8:e1002917. (Link)
Seed, K.D., Bodi, K.L., Kropinski, A.M., Ackermann H.W., Calderwood, S.B., Qadri, F., and Camilli, A. 2011. Evidence of a dominant lineage of Vibrio cholerae-specific lytic bacteriophages shed by cholera patients over a 10-year period in Dhaka, Bangladesh. mBio. 2:e00334-10.(Link)
Complete list of publications generated by PubMed
O’Hara, B.J., Barth, Z.K., McKitterick, A.C., and Seed, K.D. 2017. A highly specific phage defense system is a conserved feature of the Vibrio cholerae mobilome. PLOS Genetics. 13:e1006838. (Link)
