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About Nathan Ahlgren

I received a B.S. in Biology from M.I.T. in 1999. After moving west to Seattle, I obtained an M.S. and Ph.D. in oceanography from the University of Washington in 2003 and 2008. After completing the long trek across the street to the Department of Microbiology at the University of Washington, I began my post-doctoral fellowship in the fall of 2008 in the Greenberg lab.

Research

My primary interests lie in studying the ecology of microbes—how they interact with the environment and other organisms. My Ph.D. dissertation primarily focused on how abiotic factors influence community diversity and structure in marine cyanobacteria (Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus), but I have been equally interested in interactions bacteria have with each other and other organisms. This led me to the lab of Pete Greenberg who studies quorum sensing systems in bacteria. Quorum sensing facilitates cell density-dependent changes in gene expression and thus behavior. This communication is mediated by small molecules that are produced and released into the environment and then detected by the bacteria.

I am currently working on quorum sensing in Bradyrhizobia. Bradyrhizobia are soil bacteria that colonize root nodules, fix nitrogen, and supply N compounds to the plant while the plant provides carbon compounds to the bacteria. Quorum-sensing is known to be important in nodule symbiosis. In the closely related bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris, a new class of quorum sensing molecules was recently discovered which differs from previously described signaling molecules. This bacterium uses a homoserine lactone signal with an aromatic side chain, in contrast to other homoserine lactone signals which instead have fatty acid side chains. I am testing if similar aromatic based signalling molecules are used in Bradyrhizobia. I am also looking at what behaviors are controlled by quorum sensing and the influence of quorum sensing on the behavior of the plant host.

Nathan Ahlgren, Ph.D.
Postdoc

Email:
nahlgren at ocean.washington.edu

Phone:
(206) 221-2850

Location:
HSB K-359

Mailing Address:
UW Box 35724735
Seattle WA 98195

Shipping Address:
HSB K-359
1708 NE Pacific St
Seattle WA 98195