Matthew Munneke
Carroll College
Eric Skaar Lab
Clostridioides difficile is a gram-positive, spore forming pathogen that is the leading cause of hospital acquired diarrhea. During colonization of the gut, C. diff must acquire essential transition metals in order to survive and cause disease. Host factors exist that bind and sequester metals from pathogens in a process termed “nutritional immunity”. My thesis project in the Skaar lab is focused on defining mechanisms in C. diff that maintain metal homeostasis at the host-pathogen interface that may play an important role during colonization of the complex ecosystem of the gut.