Josh Fletcher
Bio
The Fletcher lab uses classic bacterial genetics in combination with multi-omics approaches to analyze in vitro and in vivo models of the bacterial pathogenesis and interactions with the microbiota. We study how nutrient acquisition/utilization and microbial interactions influence bacterial physiology in the context of health and disease. Colonization of microbe-rich host environments is shaped by many processes, including the nutrients that are available in situ, competition from resident microbiota, and the host immune system. Although a complex microbiota is typically linked to colonization resistance against pathogenic bacteria, some species like Staphylococcus aureus and Fusobacterium nucleatum colonize hosts for long periods of time without causing overt disease, highlighting their dual role as commensals. How they integrate into the microbiota is not well known, nor are their contributions to the composition or function of the microbiota and metabolome over time. The long-term goal of the Fletcher lab is to uncover and characterize mechanisms that enable stable colonization. This knowledge may lead to the development of targeted strategies for or against specific members or metabolic functions of the microbiota for pathogen decolonization while avoiding the use of broad spectrum antimicrobials.
Education
PhD Genetics University of Iowa
Publications
- Dual oxic-anoxic co-culture enables direct study of anaerobe-host interactions at the airway epithelial interface , MBIO (2025)
- The Stickland Reaction Precursor trans-4-Hydroxy-l-Proline Differentially Impacts the Metabolism of Clostridioides difficile and Commensal Clostridia , MSPHERE (2022)
- Clostridioides difficile exploits toxin-mediated inflammation to alter the host nutritional landscape and exclude competitors from the gut microbiota , NATURE COMMUNICATIONS (2021)
- Human fecal metabolomic profiling could inform Clostridioides difficile infection diagnosis and treatment , JOURNAL OF CLINICAL INVESTIGATION (2019)
- Shifts in the Gut Metabolome and Clostridium difficile Transcriptome throughout Colonization and Infection in a Mouse Model , MSPHERE (2018)
- Bacterial lipoproteins and other factors released by Francisella tularensis modulate human neutrophil lifespan: Effects of a TLR1 SNP on apoptosis inhibition , CELLULAR MICROBIOLOGY (2017)