Recent Publications

Abrahamsen HL, Sanford TC, Collamore CE, Johnstone BA, Coyne MJ, García-Bayona L, Christie MP, Evans JC, Farrand AJ, Flores K, Morton CJ, Parker MW, Comstock LE, Tweten RK. 2024. Distant relatives of a eukaryotic cell-specific toxin family evolved a complement-like mechanism to kill bacteria. Nat Commun 15:5028 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49103-5.

Kennedy NW, Comstock LE. 2024. Mechanisms of bacterial immunity, protection, and survival during interbacterial warfare. Cell Host & Microbe 32(6):794-803. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2024.05.006

Zhang ZJ, Cole CG, Coyne M, Lin H, Dylla N, Smith RC, Waligurski E, Ramaswamy R, Woodson C, Burgo V, Little J, Moran D, Rose A, McMillin M, Mcspadden E, Sundararajan A, Sidebottom A, Pamer EG, Comstock LE. 2024. Comprehensive analyses of a large human gut Bacteroidales culture collection reveal species and strain level diversity and evolution. bioRxiv doi:10.1101/2024.03.08.584156:2024.03.08.584156.

Fogarty EC, Schechter MS, Lolans K, Sheahan ML, Veseli I, Moore RM, Kiefl E, Moody T, Rice PA, Yu MK, Mimee M, Chang EB, Ruscheweyh H-J, Sunagawa S, McLellan SL, Willis AD, Comstock LE, Eren AM. 2024. A cryptic plasmid is among the most numerous genetic elements in the human gut. Cell 187:1206-1222.e16.

Carasso S, Zaatry R, Hajjo H, Kadosh-Kariti D, Ben-Assa N, Naddaf R, Mandelbaum N, Pressman S, Chowers Y, Gefen T, Jeffrey KL, Jofre J, Coyne MJ, Comstock LE, Sharon I, Geva-Zatorsky N. 2024. Inflammation and bacteriophages affect DNA inversion states and functionality of the gut microbiota. Cell Host & Microbe doi:10.1016/j.chom.2024.02.003.

Sheahan ML, Coyne MJ, Flores K, García-Bayona L, Chatzidaki-Livanis M, Sundararajan A, Holst AQ, Barquera B, Comstock LE. 2023. A ubiquitous mobile genetic element disarms a bacterial antagonist of the gut microbiota. bioRxiv doi:10.1101/2023.08.25.553775.

Butler NL, Ito T, Foreman S, Morgan JE, Zagorevsky D, Malamy MH, Comstock LE, Barquera B. 2023. Bacteroides fragilis maintains concurrent capability for anaerobic and nanaerobic respiration. Journal of Bacteriology 205:e00389-22.

Evans JC, McEneany VL, Coyne MJ, Caldwell EP, Sheahan ML, Von SS, Coyne EM, Tweten RK, Comstock LE. 2022. A proteolytically activated antimicrobial toxin encoded on a mobile plasmid of Bacteroidales induces a protective response. Nat Commun 13(1):4258.

Bao H, Coyne MJ, García-Bayona L, Comstock LE. 2022. Analysis of effector and immunity proteins of the GA2 Type VI secretion systems of gut Bacteroidales. J Bacteriol 204(7):e0012222.

Tomek MB, Janesch B, Braun ML, Taschner M, Figl R, Grünwald-Gruber C, Coyne MJ, Blaukopf M, Altmann F, Kosma P, Kählig H, Comstock LE, Schäffer C. 2021. A combination of structural, genetic, phenotypic and enzymatic analyses reveals the importance of a predicted fucosyltransferase to protein O-glycosylation in the Bacteroidetes. Biomolecules 11(12):1795.

Matano LM, Coyne MJ, García-Bayona L, Comstock LE. 2021. Bacteroidetocins target the essential outer membrane protein BamA of Bacteroidales symbionts and pathogens. mBio 12 (5), e02285-21

García-Bayona L, Coyne MJ, Comstock LE. 2021. Mobile Type VI secretion system loci of the gut Bacteroidales display extensive intraecosystem transfer, multi-species spread and geographical clustering. PLoS Genetics 17(4):e1009541.

Ben-Assa N, Coyne MJ, Fomenkov A, Livny J, Robins WP, Muniesa M, Carey V, Carasso S, Gefen T, Jofre J, Roberts RJ, Comstock LE, Geva-Zatorsky N. 2020. Analysis of a phase-variable restriction modification system of the human gut symbiont Bacteroides fragilis. Nucleic Acids Research 48(19):11040–11053.

García-Bayona L, Coyne MJ, Hantman N, Montero-Llopis P, Von SS, Ito T, Malamy MH, Basler M, Barquera B, Comstock LE. 2020. Nanaerobic growth enables direct visualization of dynamic cellular processes in human gut symbionts. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 117(39):24484-24493.

Smith WPJ, Vettiger A, Winter J, Ryser T, Comstock LE, Basler M, Foster KR. 2020. The evolution of the type VI secretion system as a disintegration weapon. Plos Biology 18(5):e3000720.

Ito T, Gallegos R, Matano LM, Butler NL, Hantman N, Kaili M, Coyne MJ, Comstock LE, Malamy MH, Barquera B. 2020. Genetic and biochemical analysis of anaerobic respiration in Bacteroides fragilis and its importance in vivo. mBio 11(1):e03238-19.

García-Bayona L, Comstock LE. 2019. Streamlined genetic manipulation of diverse Bacteroides and Parabacteroides isolates from the human gut microbiota. mBio 10(4):e01762-19.

Coyne MJ, Béchon N, Matano LM, McEneany VL, Chatzidaki-Livanis M, Comstock LE. 2019. A family of anti-Bacteroidales peptide toxins wide-spread in the human gut microbiota. Nature Communications 10(1):3460.

Coyne MJ, Comstock LE. 2019. Type VI secretion systems and the gut microbiota. Microbiol Spectrum 7(2):PSIB-0009-2018.

Shumaker AM, Laclare McEneany V, Coyne MJ, Silver PA, Comstock LE. 2019. Identification of a fifth antibacterial toxin produced by a single Bacteroides fragilis strain. J Bacteriol. 201(8):e00577-18.

García-Bayona L, Comstock LE. 2018. Bacterial antagonism in host-associated microbial communities. Science 361(6408):aat2456.

McEneany VL, Coyne MJ, Chatzidaki-Livanis M, Comstock LE. 2018. Acquisition of MACPF domain-encoding genes is the main contributor to LPS glycan diversity in gut Bacteroides species. ISME J doi:10.1038/s41396-018-0244-4

Chatzidaki-Livanis M, Coyne MJ, Roelofs KG, Gentyala RR, Caldwell JM, Comstock LE. 2017. Gut symbiont Bacteroides fragilis secretes a eukaryotic-like ubiquitin protein that mediates intraspecies antagonism. mBio 8:e01902-01917.

Roelofs KG, Coyne MJ, Gentyala RR, Chatzidaki-Livanis M, Comstock LE. 2016. Bacteroidales secreted antimicrobial proteins target surface molecules necessary for gut colonization and mediate competition in vivo. mBio 7:e01055-01016.

Rakoff-Nahoum S, Foster KR, Comstock LE. 2016. The evolution of cooperation within the gut microbiota. Nature 533:255-259.

Coyne MJ, Comstock LE. 2016. A new pillar in pilus assembly. Cell 165:520-521.

Chatzidaki-Livanis M, Geva-Zatorsky N, Comstock LE. 2016. Bacteroides fragilis type VI secretion systems use novel effector and immunity proteins to antagonize human gut Bacteroidales species. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 113:3627-3632.

Coyne MJ, Roelofs KG, Comstock LE. 2016. Type VI secretion systems of human gut Bacteroidales segregate into three genetic architectures, two of which are contained on mobile genetic elements. BMC Genomics 17:58.

Comstock LE. 2016. Small RNAs repress expression of polysaccharide utilization loci of gut Bacteroides species. J Bacteriol 198:2396-2398.

Liu S, da Cunha AP, Rezende RM, Cialic R, Wei Z, Bry L, Comstock LE, Gandhi R, Weiner HL. 2016. The host shapes the gut microbiota via fecal microRNA. Cell Host Microbe 19:32-43.

Rakoff-Nahoum S, Coyne MJ, Comstock LE. 2014. An ecological network of polysaccharide utilization among human intestinal symbionts. Curr Biol 24:40-49.

Coyne MJ, Zitomersky NL, McGuire AM, Earl AM, Comstock LE. 2014. Evidence of extensive DNA transfer between Bacteroidales species within the human gut. mBio 5:e01305-01314-e01305-01314.

Chatzidaki-Livanis M, Coyne MJ, Comstock LE. 2014. An antimicrobial protein of the gut symbiont Bacteroides fragilis with a MACPF domain of host immune proteins. Mol Microbiol 94:1361-1374.