About
Background
I completed my undergraduate education at Southern Illinois University with a BA in Biology. I wasn't quite sure what subject I wanted to pursue as a graduate student, so I became a non-degree graduate student at the University of Illinois-Chicago for two years. During this time period I took classes in a wide variety of subjects that were of interest to me. After completing a class in bacterial genetics, I was hooked. My graduate studies led me to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I completed my Ph.D. from the Department of Bacteriology under the guidance of Dr. Jo Handelsman in 1994. My thesis work centered on characterization of two antibiotics produced by a strain of Bacillus cereus that our lab was investigating for biological control activity. I followed up my Ph.D. with post-doctoral training in the Department of Genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Dr. Patrick Masson. In Dr. Masson's lab I studied the gravitropic response of Arabidopsis thaliana. My second post-doctoral experience was conducted under Dr. Dennis Ohman at The University of Tennessee-Memphis and later at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond Virginia. During this time period I developed a deep fascination with the Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates recovered from the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients. |
 |
Research Philosophy
I have had the privilege of working with many excellent scientists over my career and in a variety of settings. Together, these experiences have shaped the image of the researcher and mentor I would like to become. Training students to conduct research is a great opportunity to help students achieve skills that will aid them to navigate future challenges in their life, especially the skills of effective communication and critical thinking. Each student comes into the lab with a different set of skills and different goals and expectations. I like to take this into account as I learn about my students and I adjust my guidance accordingly. My success as a researcher depends upon the success of my students!
Research Interests
We are interested in understanding how P. aeruginosa survives the hostile environment of the cystic fibrosis (CF) lung to cause disease. Cystic Fibrosis patients typically acquire P. aeruginosa lung infections early in life and carry these infections until their death. Because most CF patients will eventually die of respiratory disease caused by P. aeruginosa, the average life span of a CF patient in the United States is approximately 32 years. Within the CF lung and over time, P. aeruginosa acquires multiple phenotypic and genotypic alterations. Some of these alterations occur in basic metabolic functions as well as loss of virulence determinants. Interestingly, loss of standard virulence determinants by these isolates does not appear to render them less harmful to the host or to weaken their hold within the lung environment.
Our laboratory is interested in the mechanism(s) that promote alterations in P. aeruginosa, the nature of the alterations at the molecular level and the effect these alterations have on the physiology and behavior of the bacteria. A comprehensive analysis of the alterations acquired by P. aeruginosa as it adapts to the CF lung during chronic infection may help to develop therapeutic strategies for treating these infections. Overall, our laboratory takes an integrative approach to answer complex questions about bacterial survival and adaptation to changing and hostile environments.
Current projects include characterizing virulence determinants from CF isolates of P. aeruginosa using alfalfa seedlings as an alternative model system and characterizing the alterations that are acquired by P. aeruginosa within the CF lung.
 |
 |
| Healthy plant: Saline inoculated control alfalfa seedling. | Infected plant: Alfalfa seedling inoculated with P. aeruginosa strain FRD1 |
Publications
Silo-Suh, L., B. J. Lethbridge, S. J.Raffel, H. He, J. Clardy and J. Handelsman. 1994. Biological activities of two fungistatic antibiotics produced by Bacillus cereus UW85. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 60:2023-2030.
He, H., L. Silo-Suh, J. Handelsman and J. Clardy. 1994. Zwittermicin A, an antifungal and plant protection agent from Bacillus cereus. Tet. Lett. 35:2499-2502.
Milner, J. L., L. Silo-Suh, J. C. Lee, H. He, J. Clardy and J. Handelsman. 1996. Production of kanosamine by Bacillus cerus UW85. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62:3061-3065.
Milner, J. L., L. Silo-Suh, R. M. Goodman and J. Handelsman. 1997. Antibiosis and Beyond: Genetic Diversity, Microbial Communities, and Biological Control. Pages 107-127 in D.A. Andow, D.W. Ragsdale and R.F. Nyvall, editors. Ecological Interactions and Biological Control. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado.
Silo-Suh, L., E.V.Stabb, S.J. Raffel and J. Handelsman. 1998. Target range of zwittermicin A, an aminopolyol antibiotic from Bacillus cereus. Current Microbiology 37:6-11
Suh, S.-J., L. Silo-Suh, D. J. Hassett, D. E. Woods, S. E. West and D. E. Ohman. 1999. Effect of rpoS mutation on the stress response and expression of virulence factors in Pseudomonasaeruginosa. J. Bact. 181:3890-3897
Ohman, D.E., S. Malhotra, S. Jain, K. Mathee, and L. Silo-Suh. 1999. Alginate biosynthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: a stress response. Clin Microbiol Infect. 5:5S11-5S13
Malhotra, S., L. Silo-Suh, K. Mathee and D.E. Ohman. 2000. Proteome analysis of the effect of mucoid conversion on global protein expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO1 shows induction of the disulfide bond isomerase, dsbA. J. Bact. 182:6999-7006.
Silo-Suh, L., S. Suh, P.A. Sokol, and D.E. Ohman. 2002. A simple alfalfa seedling infection model for Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains associated with cystic fibrosis shows AlgT (Sigma-22) and RhlR contribute to pathogenesis. PNAS 99:15699-15704.
Yuen, C.Y.L, R.S. Pearlman, L. Silo-Suh, P.Hilson, K.L. Carroll, and P. H. Masson. 2003. WVD2 and WVD1 modulate helical organ growth and anistropic expansion in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol. 131:493-506.
Bernier, S.P., Silo-Suh, L, Woods, D.E., Ohman, D.E., and P.A. Sokol. 2003. Comparative analysis of plant and animal models for characterization of Burkholderia cepacia virulence. Infect. Immunity. 71:5306-5313.
Suh, S.-J., L. Silo-Suh and D. E. Ohman. 2004. Development of tools for the genetic manipulation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J of Microbiol. Methods. 58:203-212.
Silo-Suh, L., S. Suh, P.V. Phibbs and D.E. Ohman. 2005. Adaptations of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to the cystic fibrosis lung environment can include deregulation of zwf encoding glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. J. Bact. 187:7561-7568.
Lindsey, T.L., Hagins, J.M., Sokol, P.A. and L.A. Silo-Suh 2008. Virulence determinants from a cystic fibrosis isolate of Pseudomonas aeruginosa include isocitrate lyase. Microbiology. 154:1616-1627.