Jason Zuke Email & Phone Number

In 2015, I graduated from Washington University in St. Louis and earned a bachelor of arts degree with a major in biology. Directly after graduation, I began working as a research technician in Dr. Petra Levin's laboratory, studying the regulation of bacterial cell size in response to nutrient availability. I expanded upon work conducted by a previous graduate student on the post-translational regulation of a cell size regulatory protein (UgtP). The experiments I conducted, as well as revisions I made to the manuscript detailing this work, led to the publication of "A nutrient-dependent division antagonist is regulated post-translationally by the Clp proteases in Bacillus subtilis" in BMC Microbiology, which I second authored. In 2017, I began my PhD work in the Microbiology Doctoral Training Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and joined the laboratory of Dr. Briana Burton studying bacterial natural competence using the Gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis. I have adapted the widely-used maleimide labeling technique to image competence-associated pili in real time via widefield fluorescence microscopy, studied their dynamic biogenesis and disassembly, as well as their interactions with a fluorescently labeled DNA substrate. These findings have advanced our understanding of the mechanisms underlying DNA transport across the cell wall in naturally competent Bacillus subtilis specifically, as well as Gram-positive organisms more generally. The article detailing these findings, "Visualizing dynamic competence pili and DNA capture throughout the long axis of Bacillus subtilis" with myself as first author can be found in the Journal of Bacteriology.In November 2023, I successfully defended my PhD thesis entitled "Production, dynamics, and DNA binding capabilities of Bacillus subtilis natural competence associated pili”. As of June 2024, I have been a technical services scientist with Promega. In this role, I get to combine my passion for the biological sciences with my desire to serve others by helping Promega customers overcome their technical challenges involving our extensive range of products.