My interdisciplinary research combines computational biology, genomics, high-throughput and targeted mutant generation, and biochemical and molecular methods to determine the genetic requirements for microbial functions of interest. I use genomics to determine how a microbe adapts to survive and at times even thrives in an environment. I am particularly interested in the community structure and function of anaerobic microbes when attached to surfaces as biofilms because on or near a surface tends to be where the most active (and interesting IMO) microbes are often found.
Philo SE, De León KB, Noble RT, Zhou NA, Alghafri R, Bar-Or I, Darline A, D’Souza N, Hachimi O, Kaya D, Kim S, Kuhn KG, Layton BA, Mansfeldt C, Oceguera B, Radniecki TS, Ram JL, Saunders LP, Shrestha A, Stadler LB, Steele JA, Stevenson BS, Bibby K, Boehm AB, Halden RU, Delgado Vela J. (2023). Wastewater surveillance for bacterial targets: current challenges and future goals. Appl Environ Microbiol. e01428-23. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.01428-23
Busi, SB*, De León KB*, Montonye DR, Wall JD, Amos-Landgraf J. (2022). Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough biofilm competency facilitates colonization in the gut and represses adenoma development in a rat model of colon cancer. bioRxiv preprint https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.07.26.501613 *These authors contributed equally to this work
Jenneman GE and De León KB. (2022). Environmental stressors alter the susceptibility of microorganisms to biocides in upstream oil and gas systems. Int Biodeterior Biodegrad. 169:105385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibiod.2022.105385
De León KB. (2021). mSphere of Influence: surface sensing in biofilm formation. mSphere. 6(3):e00369-21 https://doi.org/10.1128/msphere.00369-21
Zane GM, Wall JD, De León KB. (2020). Novel mode of molybdate inhibition of Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough. Front Microbiol. 11:610455. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.61045
