Our Research

Pseudomonas aeruginosa upright walking

When bacteria come in contact with a surface, what will they do next? The Shrout Lab is interested to better understand how bacteria function on surfaces in response to their environment.

We are particularly interested in the “sociomicrobiology” and motility of bacteria. We focus extensively on determining how single bacteria or groups of cells sense and respond to environmental cues, coordinate gene expression and function among populations, and develop bacterial communities such as biofilms.

To do this research, we combine research at different spatial scales (from microns up to meters) and different time scales (seconds to days). Overall, we seek to understand what single cells are doing within the context of their neighbors and entire community.

Pseudomonas motility within swarm tendrils