The Dishaw Lab at the University of South Florida is interested in how exogenous factors and secreted immune effectors shape the ecology of gut microbiomes in diverse animal systems, including humans. Our research leverages the invertebrate chordate, Ciona robusta, as a model for studying transkingdom interactions in the gut and how those interactions shape animal immunity (and, likewise, how immunity shapes the ecology of the gut). Since the gut serves as a primary interface with the environment since birth, we are focused on how transkingdom exchanges at mucosal barriers impact animal development, including immune maturation. Our work translates into an understanding of the developmental ontogeny of human microbiomes by focusing on very low birth weight premature infants.
New preprints or manuscripts in press
O. Natarajan et al. 2025. Prophage regulation of Shewanella fidelis 3313 motility and biofilm formation: implications for gut colonization dynamics in Ciona robusta. eLife14:RP103107. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.103107.1
Just published:
M. Young et al. Pseudovibrio ascidiaceicola 5337, a marine bacterial symbiont of the ascidian gut with unusual genome features. Microbiol Resour Announc. 2025 Jul 31:e0059425. doi: 10.1128/mra.00594-25. PMID: 40741744
In Press:
A. Sarkar et al. Distribution of microsporidia in preterm and full-term infant gut microbiomes and implications for host health. Frontiers in Pediatrics, in press.
Summer 2025. From Left to Right Top Row: Lucas De Abreu, Morgan Young, Felicia Nguyen, Susanne Gibboney, and Larry Dishaw. Squatting is Ojas Natarajan (senior scientist). Missing is April Ellis (grad student) and newer members, Jemma Parsons, and Charliz Rivera.
Our lab, Summer 2024. From Left to Right Top Row: Larry Dishaw, Susanne Gibboney, Sarah Kingsford, Yanori Ferguson, Morgan Young, and Felicia Nguyen. Front row, left to right: Alyssa Fischer, April Ellis, Jean Lim (collaborator), and Ojas Natarajan (senior scientist). Missing are newer members, Lucas De Abreu, Jemma Parsons, and Charliz Rivera.
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