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I find the biochemical mechanism underlying the processes of transcription and gene regulation fascinating. I am particularly interested in transcription initiation and how a gene that was previously not expressed gets “turned on”. My research interests have focused on the regulation of gene expression by alternate sigma factors in the soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis. Recently, I have also become interested in the genetic determinants that govern behavior in another soil organism, Paenibacillus. In my laboratory we use state-of-the-art methodology in molecular genetics and cell biology, as well as classical techniques in microbial physiology. These techniques allow us to study the environmental and structural signals that control expression of individual genes involved in adaptation and particular behaviors in the bacterial cell. Our overall goal is to elucidate the molecular networks that determine specific bacterial responses.