VAN HOUTE LAB

Welcome to our website! The van Houte lab is based in the Environment and Sustainability Institute at the University of Exeter's Cornwall Campus. The Van Houte lab studies interactions between genetic parasites (mainly bacteriophages and plasmids) and their bacterial hosts, with a particular focus using CRISPR-Cas, an adaptive immune system in bacteria, to remove antimicrobial resistance genes from microbial communities... The van Houte lab focuses on using CRISPR-Cas technology to find novel ways to target bacteria with antimicrobial resistance... Co-evolutionary dynamics between bacteriophages and their bacterial hosts. We work with several different model systems, including Pseudomonas fluorescens and its phage phi2 (in collaboration with Angus Buckling), Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain UCBPP-PA14 and its phage DMS3 (in collaboration with the Westra lab), and Streptococcus thermophilus and its phage 2972.