Subsoontorn Lab:Research

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Current Research

Precise modulation of marine microbiome Our ability to study and utilise microbiota is limited by the lack of tools for precisely perturbing and modulating microbial subpopulations of interest within a heterogenous population. Recently, CRISPR/Cas technology was used for creating antimicrobials with a programmable spectrum of activities.This strategy exploits the fact that CRISPR/Cas system can be designed to break a specific DNA sequence. In a prokaryotic cell without efficient DNA repair, such genomic cleavage often results in cell death. By delivering the designed CRISPR/Cas system to a microbial population one could selectively knockdown a subpopulation whose genomic DNA is targeted. Previous works demonstrated sequence-specific elimination of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in mixed populations. Here, we are applying this strategy for targeted elimination of Vibrio harveyi, a pathogenic bacteria in black tiger shrimp and Pacific white shrimp. This project is under collaboration with Dr. Wanilada Rungrassamee (BIOTEC) and Prof. Jim Haseloff (University of Cambridge, UK)

Past Research

Engineering multicellular system via short-range cell-cell intereaction Our ability to study and utilise microbiota is limited by the lack of tools for precisely perturbing and modulating microbial subpopulations of interest within a heterogenous population. Recently, CRISPR/Cas technology was used for creating antimicrobials with a programmable spectrum of activities.This strategy exploits the fact that CRISPR/Cas system can be designed to break a specific DNA sequence. In a prokaryotic cell without efficient DNA repair, such genomic cleavage often results in cell death. By delivering the designed CRISPR/Cas system to a microbial population one could selectively knockdown a subpopulation whose genomic DNA is targeted. Previous works demonstrated sequence-specific elimination of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in mixed populations. Here, we are applying this strategy for targeted elimination of Vibrio harveyi, a pathogenic bacteria in black tiger shrimp and Pacific white shrimp. This project is under collaboration with Dr. Wanilada Rungrassamee (BIOTEC) and Prof. Jim Haseloff (University of Cambridge, UK)