Image of smiling Laura JenningsOffice: 219 Cooley Hall

Specialty: Bacterial Pathogenesis

Email: laura.jennings@montana.edu

Phone: 406-994-2649

Lab Website

Google Scholar

Research Focus

The Jennings Lab seeks to understand bacterial factors that affect infection outcomes. Our research has two primary focus areas including: 1) The influence of biofilm polysaccharides on host-pathogen interactions and vaccine escape, and 2) Epigenetics and programmed heterogeneity in drug-resistant bacteria. We combine microbiological, molecular, and biochemical approaches to answer key questions in the field of bacterial pathogenesis, with the long-term goal of translating this knowledge into innovative antibacterial therapeutics.

  • Bacterial Pathogenesis
  • Biofilm Polysaccharides
  • Bacterial Epigenetics
  • Antibiotic Resistance
  • Antibacterial Vaccines

Professional Preparation

  • Assistant Professor, Microbiology & Cell Biology, Montana State University, 2024-Present
  • Research Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, University of Montana, 2024
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Microbiology, University of Washington, 2017
  • PhD Civil & Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, 2009
    • NSF GRFP Fellow
  • BS Chemical & Biological Engineering, Montana State University, 2003
    • Barry M. Goldwater Scholar

Selected Publications

For a complete list, see Laura K. Jennings on Google Scholar. 

  1. Cole SL, Jennings LK. The Biofilm Blueprint: Exopolysaccharide Form and Function in Bacterial Biofilms. In Biofilm Matrix 2024 Nov 19 (pp. 1-42). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
  2. Jennings, L. K., Dreifus, J. E., Reichhardt, C., Storek, K. M., Secor, P. R., Wozniak, D. J., Hisert, K. B., Parsek, M. R. (2021) Pseudomonas aeruginosa aggregates in cystic fibrosis sputum produce exopolysaccharides that likely impede current therapies. Cell reports: v. 34 i. 8

  3. Almblad H, Randall TE, Liu F, Leblanc K, Groves RA, Kittichotirat W, Winsor GL, Fournier N, Au E, Groizeleau J, Rich JD, Lou Y, Granton E, Jennings LK, Singletary LA, Winstone TML, Good NM, Bumgarner RE, Hynes MF, Singh M, Stietz MS, Brinkman FSL, Kumar A, Brassinga AKC, Parsek MR, Tseng BS, Lewis IA, Yipp BG, MacCallum JL, Harrison JJ. Bacterial cyclic diguanylate signaling networks sense temperature. Nat Commun. 2021;12(1):1986.

  4. Jennings, LK, Secor, PR, and Evans, JT, inventors. Antibacterial Carbohydrate Vaccine. US Patent App. 17/781,187, published 06/10/2021.

  5. Baker P, Hill PJ, Snarr BD, Alnabelseya N, Pestrak MJ, Lee MJ, Jennings LK, Tam J, Melnyk RA, Parsek MR, Sheppard DC, Wozniak DJ, Howell PL. Exopolysaccharide biosynthetic glycoside hydrolases can be utilized to disrupt and prevent Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms. Science Advances. 2016;2(5):e1501632.

  6. Jennings LK, Storek KM, Ledvina HE, Coulon C, Marmont LS, Sadovskaya I, Secor PR, Tseng BS, Scian M, Filloux A, Wozniak DJ, Howell PL, Parsek MR. Pel is a cationic exopolysaccharide that cross-links extracellular DNA in the Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm matrix. Proc Natl Acad Sci 2015;112(36):11353-8.

  7. Jones CJ, Newsom D, Kelly B, Irie Y, Jennings LK, Xu B, Limoli DH, Harrison JJ, Parsek MR, White P, Wozniak DJ. ChIP-Seq and RNA-Seq reveal an AmrZ-mediated mechanism for cyclic di-GMP synthesis and biofilm development by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. PLoS Pathog. 2014;10(3):e1003984.