Tom Bernhardt
Harvard Medical School
HIM Building, Room 1026
4 Blackfan Circle
Boston, MA 02115
Tel: 617-525-7374
Email: thomas_bernhardt@hms.harvard.edu
Website: bernhardtlab.com
Lab Size: Between 15-20
Summary
Determining how cells grow and divide is a fundamental goal of biology. However, these processes remain poorly understood even in the simplest of cells. In bacteria, growth and division are intimately linked to the construction of the cell wall layer that surrounds these cells. Thus, the key to understanding bacterial morphogenesis lies in defining the mechanisms underlying cell surface assembly. Elucidation of these pathways has significant consequences for human health because cell wall biogenesis is the target for many of our oldest and most successful antibiotics, including penicillin and related beta-lactam drugs. Emerging resistant infections are unfortunately eroding the efficacy of these and other antibiotics. It is therefore now more important than ever to understand the molecular details of bacterial growth in order to find new and effective methods of blocking it for the treatment of disease. To gain new insight in this area, we combine classic and modern genetic approaches with cell imaging and biochemical analysis in a range of model and pathogenic bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Corynebacterium glutamicum).
Publications
Marmont LS, Orta AK, Baileeves BWA, Sychantha D, Fernández-Galliano A, Li YE, Greene NG, Corey RA, Stansfeld PJ, Clemons WM Jr, Bernhardt TG. Synthesis of lipid-linked precursors of the bacterial cell wall is governed by a feedback control mechanism in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Nat Microbiol. 2024 Mar;9(3):763-775. doi: 10.1038/s41564-024-01603-2. Epub 2024 Feb 9.
Fivenson EM, Rohs PDA, Vettiger A, Sardis MF, Torres G, Forchoh A, Bernhardt TG. A role for the Gram-negative outer membrane in bacterial shape determination. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Aug 29;120(35):e2301987120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2301987120. Epub 2023 Aug 22.
Hummels KR, Berry SP, Li Z, Taguchi A, Min JK, Walker S, Marks DS, Bernhardt TG. Coordination of bacterial cell wall and outer membrane biosynthesis. Nature. 2023 Mar;615(7951):300-304. doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05750-0. Epub 2023 Mar 1.
McKitterick AC, Bernhardt TG. Phage resistance profiling identifies new genes required for biogenesis and modification of the corynebacterial cell envelope. Elife. 2022 Nov 9;11:e79981. doi: 10.7554/eLife.79981.
Navarro PP, Vettiger A, Ananda VY, Llopis PM, Allolio C, Bernhardt TG, Chao LH. Cell wall synthesis and remodelling dynamics determine division site architecture and cell shape in Escherichia coli. Nat Microbiol. 2022 Oct;7(10):1621-1634. doi: 10.1038/s41564-022-01210-z. Epub 2022 Sep 12.