Simon Heilbronner

This paper develops a continuous bioreactor to maintain stable nasal microbiomes from swab specimens and synthetic communities, showing long-term stability and S. aureus decolonization.

The paper constructs synthetic nasal communities to study how community composition influences metabolic competition and S. aureus colonization resistance.

This paper identifies a SCCmec-located gene cluster (cst2) that enables MRSA to tolerate polysulfides, giving it a competitive advantage in polysulfide-rich environments.

This study shows that the transcriptional regulator SigB is crucial for Staphylococcus aureus adaptation to different niches, with SigB-deficient strains evolving in persistent mastitis due to the cost of phenotypic plasticity.

The paper shows that tyrosine availability influences Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization and its interactions with commensal bacteria.

This study shows that Staphylococcus lugdunensis reduces S. aureus colonization by producing lugdunin, and that mutualistic interactions with other commensals enhance its growth through siderophore piracy.

The paper shows nasal commensals reduce S. aureus growth by consuming its siderophores, revealing inter-species competition and potential for probiotic strategies.

This paper creates and validates five strain-specific genome-scale metabolic models for Corynebacterium striatum using in silico and in vitro methods, and introduces software for model curation.