Julia van Kessel Research Group

Indiana University

How does quorum sensing in Vibrio bacteria detect community composition and trigger coordinated behavioral switches in marine environments? The lab investigates molecular, genetic, and biochemical mechanisms that coordinate quorum-sensing developmental switches in Vibrio species using microbial genetics and biochemistry. Researchers apply molecular biology, chemistry, structural biology, transcriptomics, and bioinformatics to dissect signal production, detection, and downstream gene-regulatory responses. The group focuses on marine Vibrio pathogens of fish, shellfish, coral, and humans to link communication mechanisms to ecology and pathogenesis. Rising ocean temperatures and environmental change are studied as drivers that increase Vibrio infections in natural and aquaculture settings, motivating mechanistic studies of communication in environmental niches.