Joe Larkin

Biography:

Using microbial populations as a model, Larkin and his lab team seek to understand how new self-perpetuation strategies arise throughout the course of evolution. They study how the physical and chemical environment influences microbes and how microbes, in turn, engineer that very environment. More specifically, Larkin’s research examines how bacterial biofilms change local conditions by producing extracellular matrix as well as how cell-to-cell signals drive such behaviors. The research also investigates how electrophysiology influences bacterial behaviors including metabolism, gene expression, and cell-to-cell communication. Larkin’s team uses time-lapse imaging and custom experimental devices to observe and probe microbial behaviors in space and time.

Research Interests:

bacterial communities, cell-to-cell communication, bacterial electrophysiology

Publications:

View a complete list of publications

Labs:

Larkin Lab