Current research:
As a graduate student in the MCB Program, I am working on:
(1) c-di-GMP mediated Second Messenger Signaling in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other bacteria.
(2) FRET microscopy
(3) Bacterial motility
Education: B.S. Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Washington.
Research Experience:
Dr. Joseph Smith: Seattle Biomedical Research Institute
Dr. Evgeni Sokurenko: University of Washington
Dr. Stephen Lory : Harvard Medical School
Awards: National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP), 2007
Publications:
Pultz IS, Christen M, Kulasekara HD, Kennard A, Kulasekara B, Miller SI.The response threshold
of Salmonella PilZ domain proteins is determined by their binding affinities for c-di-GMP.
Mol Microbiol. 2012 Dec;86(6):1424-40. PMID: 23163901
Christen M, Kulasekara HD, Christen B, Kulasekara BR, Hoffman LR, Miller SI.
Asymmetrical distribution of the second messenger c-di-GMP upon bacterial cell
division. Science. 2010 Jun 4;328(5983):1295-7. PubMed PMID: 20522779.
Qiu X, Kulasekara BR, Lory S. Role of Horizontal Gene Transfer in the
Evolution of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Virulence. Genome Dyn. 2009;6:126-39. Epub
2009 Aug 19. PubMed PMID: 19696498.
Kulasekara BR, Jacobs M, Zhou Y, Wu Z, Sims E, Saenphimmachak C, Rohmer L,
Ritchie JM, Radey M, McKevitt M, Freeman TL, Hayden H, Haugen E, Gillett W, Fong
C, Chang J, Beskhlebnaya V, Waldor MK, Samadpour M, Whittam TS, Kaul R,
Brittnacher M, Miller SI. Analysis of the genome of the Escherichia coli O157:H7
2006 spinach-associated outbreak isolate indicates candidate genes that may
enhance virulence. Infect Immun. 2009 Sep;77(9):3713-21. Epub 2009 Jun 29. PubMed
PMID: 19564389; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2738036.
Avril M, Kulasekara BR, Gose SO, Rowe C, Dahlbäck M, Duffy PE, Fried M, Salanti A, Misher L, Narum DL, Smith JD.
Evidence for globally shared, cross-reacting polymorphic epitopes in the pregnancy-associated malaria
vaccine candidate VAR2CSA. Infect Immun. 2008 Apr;76(4):1791-800. Epub 2008 Feb 4.
Ou HY, He X, Harrison EM, Kulasekara BR, Thani AB, Kadioglu A, Lory S, Hinton
JC, Barer MR, Deng Z, Rajakumar K. MobilomeFINDER: web-based tools for in silico
and experimental discovery of bacterial genomic islands. Nucleic Acids Res. 2007
Jul;35(Web Server issue):W97-W104. Epub 2007 May 30. PubMed PMID: 17537813;
PubMed Central PMCID: PMC1933208.
Kulasekara BR, Kulasekara HD, Wolfgang MC, Stevens L, Frank DW, Lory S.
Acquisition and evolution of the exoU locus in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J
Bacteriol. 2006 Jun;188(11):4037-50. PubMed PMID: 16707695; PubMed Central PMCID:
PMC1482899.
Kulasekara HD, Ventre I, Kulasekara BR, Lazdunski A, Filloux A, Lory S. A
novel two-component system controls the expression of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
fimbrial cup genes. Mol Microbiol. 2005 Jan;55(2):368-80. PubMed PMID: 15659157.
Goodman AL, Kulasekara B, Rietsch A, Boyd D, Smith RS, Lory S. A signaling
network reciprocally regulates genes associated with acute infection and chronic
persistence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Dev Cell. 2004 Nov;7(5):745-54. PubMed
PMID: 15525535.
Wolfgang MC, Kulasekara BR, Liang X, Boyd D, Wu K, Yang Q, Miyada CG, Lory S.
Conservation of genome content and virulence determinants among clinical and
environmental isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003
Jul 8;100(14):8484-9. Epub 2003 Jun 18. PubMed PMID: 12815109; PubMed Central
PMCID: PMC166255.