Rodolphe Barrangou

Research Interests

Our laboratory focuses on the biology and genetics of CRISPR-Cas immune systems in bacteria. Using microbiology, molecular biology, and genomics approaches, we investigate the use of CRISPR-Cas systems for three types of applications:

1. Exploitation of CRISPR spacer hypervariability for genotyping and phylogenetic studies of beneficial and pathogenic bacteria
2. Leveraging CRISPR-mediated interference for building up phage resistance in probiotic strains and starter cultures used in food manufacturing
3. Harnessing of Cas9-mediated, re-programmable dsDNA cleavage for genome editing in bacteria

These activities provide insights into the genetic and molecular processes that drive CRISPR-mediated adaptive immunity in bacteria and generate novel tools for the manipulation of industrially relevant organisms for food and biotechnological applications.

Courses Taught

BBS 201 Introduction to Biopharmaceutical Sciences

FS 693 MR Supervised Research

FS 725 Fermentation Microbiology

FS 893 DR Supervised Research

Selected Publications

Hidalgo-Cantabrana C, O’Flaherty S, Barrangou R. (2017) CRISPR-based engineering of next-generation lactic acid bacteria. Curr Opin Microbiol. 37:79-87. doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2017.05.015

Johnson BR, O’Flaherty SJ, Goh YJ, Carroll I, Barrangou R, Klaenhammer TR. (2017) The S-layer associated serine protease homolog PrtX impacts cell surface-mediated microbe-host interactions of Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM. Front. Microbiol. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2017.01185

Barrangou R, Horvath P. (2017) A decade of discovery: CRISPR functions and applications. Nat Microbiol. 2:17092. doi: 10.1038/nmicrobiol.2017.92

Barrangou R, Ousterout DG. (2017) Repurposing CRISPR-Cas systems as DNA-based smart antimicrobials. Cell & Gene Therapy Insights. 3:63-72 doi:10.18609/cg .2017.008

Selle K, Goh YJ, Johnson BR, O’Flaherty S, Andersen JM, Barrangou R, Klaenhammer TR. (2017) Deletion of Lipoteichoic Acid Synthase Impacts Expression of Genes Encoding Cell Surface Proteins in Lactobacillus acidophilus. Front Microbiol. 8:553. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00553.

Barrangou R, Gersbach CA. (2017) Expanding the CRISPR Toolbox: Targeting RNA with Cas13b. Mol Cell. 65:582-584. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2017.02.002

Stout E, Klaenhammer T, Barrangou R. (2017) CRISPR-Cas Technologies and Applications in Food Bacteria. Annu Rev Food Sci Technol. 8:413-437. doi: 10.1146/annurev-food-072816-024723.

Morovic W, Hibberd AA, Zabel B, Barrangou R, Stahl B. (2016) Genotyping by PCR and High-Throughput Sequencing of Commercial Probiotic Products Reveals Composition Biases. Front. Microbiol. 7:1747 dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01747

Barrangou R, Doudna JA. (2016) Applications of CRISPR technologies in research and beyond. Nature Biotechnology 34:933-941 doi:10.1038/nbt.3659

Andersen JM, Shoup M, Robinson C, Britton R, Olsen KEP, Barrangou R. (2016) CRISPR diversity and microevolution in Clostridium difficile. Genome Biology and Evolution. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evw203

Briner AE, Barrangou R. (2016) Guide RNAs: A Glimpse at the Sequences that Drive CRISPR–Cas Systems. CRISPR-Cas a laboratory manual. Cold Spring Harb Protoc. (7):pdb.top090902. doi: 10.1101/pdb.top090902