UW-Madison Dept of Bacteriology
Charles W. Kaspar
Professor of Bacteriology
3470 Microbial Sciences Building
1550 Linden Drive
(608) 263-6936
cwkaspar@wisc.edu
Research Focus
Microbes thrive in diverse habitats from the intestinal tracts of animals to hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor. The over-arching theme of our research is the characterization of microbial adaptations to combat extreme environmental conditions. The acid tolerance of microbes is one phenotype with broad relevance ranging from the dissemination of foodborne pathogens to biogeochemical cycles. Through the detailed understanding of acid tolerance and stress-tolerance systems, we would ultimately like to define the proteins and pathways employed to maintain cellular homeostasis and protect essential biomolecules, like DNA, that can then be targeted for control of bacterial pathogens or employed to engineer stress-tolerant microbes for application in fermentations and environmental bioremediation. We employ a number of molecular, microscopic, and physiological approaches to decipher stress tolerance and monitor fitness of individual strains within natural populations.