Arash Komeili
komeili<at>berkeley<dot>edu

Arash received his PhD from UCSF in 2001.  His thesis work was conducted in the laboratory of Professor Erin O'Shea on the mechanisms of nucleocytoplasmic transport of transcription factors. He then began a project to understand the formation of magnetosome organelles in Professor Dianne Newman's laboratory at Caltech.  In 2005 he joined the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at UC Berkeley where he is now an Associate Professor.  He holds an Affiliated Associate Professor Position in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and is a faculty of the UC Berkeley Synthetic Biology Institute.  

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Elías Cornejo
ecornejo<at>berkeley<dot>edu

The goal of Elías’ graduate work is to broaden the understanding of magnetosomes as they form de novo. Although there is evidence to support the step-wise assembly of magnetosome formation within the cell, the precise location, pattern, and timing of magnetosome chain formation are less understood. In addition, Elías is working on identifying the minimum set of genes that are sufficient to produce magnetosomes. Elías received his BA in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He enjoys soccer, cooking, and playing music with his family.

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Carly Grant

carly<dot>grant<at>berkeley<dot>edu

Carly joined the lab in 2014.  She is interested in the diverse magnetosomes and other biominerals formed by bacteria in response to changes in environmental conditions.  Unlike the well-studied magnetotactic  α-proteobacteria, magnetotactic  δ-proteobacteria appear to form their magnetosomes through a slightly different process that is less well understood.  Carly is studying Desulfovibrio magneticus RS-1 as a model for magnetosome formation in  δ-proteobacteria.  In addition, she is interested in other biominerals formed by RS-1, and perhaps other bacteria, in response to environmental stresses.  She received her B.S. in Biotechnology from Montana State University where she studied Listeria monocytogenes mutants as vaccine candidates under the guidance of Prof. Joshua Obar.  Carly loves skiing, hiking, and exploring new places.

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Kristen LeGault

klegault<at>berkeley<dot>edu

Kristen joined the lab in 2015 as technician and is now a rotating in the lab as a graduate student. She received her BSc from McGill University and her MSc from the University of New Brunswick, both in Canada. Kristen is fascinated by the fastidious magnetotactic bacterium Desulfovibrio magneticus RS-1 (RS-1). She is working to understand the genetic basis for biomineralization in RS-1 through targeted gene deletions and the use of fluorescent microscopy. Outside the lab she enjoys hiking, camping, climbing, and all sorts of outdoor adventures.

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Matthieu Amor
amor<at>berkeley<dot>edu

Matthieu received his PhD from the University Paris-Diderot in 2015. His thesis work was conducted at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP) and at the Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie (IMPMC) under the supervision of Pr. François Guyot and Dr. Vincent Busigny. Matthieu was interested in characterizing the chemical and isotopic properties specific of magnetite nanoparticles produced by Magnetospirillum magneticum strain AMB-1, with the goal of identifying fossils of magnetotactic bacteria in ancient rock samples. He joined the Komeili Lab in 2016 to better understand the function of proteins allowing magnetite biomineralization mainly in AMB-1, and to characterize the biological factors providing AMB-1 magnetite with unique chemical and isotopic features.

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Patrick Browne
patbrowne<at>berkeley<dot>edu

Patrick joined the Komeili Lab in 2012 to study the biomineralization of magnetosomes in Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1. Specifically, he is interested in identifying proteolysis targets of MamE using both biochemical and genetic means and understanding how magnetosome maturation is regulated. Patrick received his B.S. in Microbiology at UC Berkeley where he studied biosurfactant production in Pseudomonas syringae. Outside of lab he enjoys snowboarding and rock climbing. 

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Juan Wan
juan.wan<at>berkeley<dot>edu

Juan received her PhD from Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique-Institut Armand-Frappier (Canada) in 2015. Her thesis work was conducted in the laboratory of Professor Jean-François Laliberté on the ultrastructure of Turnip mosaic virus membrane-associated replication complexes, and the role of those replication complexes in virus movement.
For the postdoc training, she continues to study the mechanism of membrane-bound structures formation by using the bacterium Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1 as a model. Particularly, she is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms of membrane biogenesis and chain formation. She also works on producing magnetosomes in foreign bacteria.

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Hayley McCausland

hcmccausland<at>berkeley<dot>edu

Hayley joined the lab in 2016. She is interested in studying the metabolism of magnetotactic bacteria, and how changes in nutrient availability and environmental conditions affect biomineralization and overall fitness. She is also working to identify the essential gene set for AMB-1 metabolism. Hayley received her B.S. in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology from Emory University, where she studied the role of potassium channels in fragile X syndrome in Prof. Gary Bassell’s lab under Prof. Christina Gross. Outside of lab, she enjoys rowing crew, cooking, and running. ​​

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Lab Alumni

Laura Murphy (2015-2016)
David Hershey (2012-2016) Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Chicago
Maggie Zhang (2013-2016) PhD Student, University of Chicago
Ertan Ozyamak (2010-2016)
Nicole Abreu (2011-2015) Postdoctoral Fellow, UC Berkeley
Michelle Pang (2014-2015) PhD Student, Stanford
Lilah Rahn-Lee (2011-2015) Assistant Professor, William Jewell College
Eun Hye Lee (2013-2014) Research Associate, Pacific Biosciences
Olga Draper (2006-2014) Research Compliance Analyst, UC Berkeley
Emily Low (2010-2013) PhD student, Harvard University
Shannon Greene (2007-2012) American Academy of Microbiology at American Society for Microbiology
Veesta Falahati (2008-2012) Masters student, UCSF
Evan Anselmo (2010-2012) 3M
Dorothee Murat (2006-2011)  CNRS -  Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, Marseille, France   
Anna Quinlan (2007-2010) Science Writer & Editor at Bio-Rad
Sepehr Keyhani (2008-2010)  UC San Diego Medical School
Meg Byrne (2006-2010)  Associate Editor at PLoS ONE
Joyce Cueto (2006-2009)