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Profile for Paul Schweiger

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Paul Schweiger

Pronouns: (He/Him/His)
Associate Professor
Microbiology
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

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Paul Schweiger Pronouns: (He/Him/His)

Associate Professor

Microbiology

Specialty area(s)

Microbial Metabolism and Physiology
Synthetic and Molecular Biology
Applied Microbiology
Biotechnology
Contact me if you have any interest in undergraduate or graduate (MS) research in these fields!

Current courses at UWL

MIC 230 Fundamental of Microbiology
MIC 425/525 Bacterial Physiology
MIC 500 Orientation to Clinical Microbiology

Education

PhD University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, 2009
BS (Biotechnology) St. Cloud State University, 2004

Career

Teaching history

Over 10 years teaching microbiology courses to undergraduates and graduate students including:
     - General Microbiology
     - Bacterial Physiology and Metabolism
     - Applied/Industrial Microbiology
     - Environmental Microbiology
     - Regulatory Mechanisms

Professional history

Associate Professor at UWL, 2022-Present
Assistant Professor at UWL, 2017-2022
Assistant Professor at Missouri State University, 2012-2017
Postdoctoral training - University of Bonn, 2009-2012

Research and publishing

My lab primarily studies microorganisms with the goal of understanding how their genes and proteins influence metabolism. In this way we can manipulate the organism's metabolism or introduce new metabolic pathways to produce end-products that have industrial application. Our research combines microbiological, molecular biology, biochemical, and systems approaches to engineer microbes for novel and increased production of value-added products. Using microorganisms as catalysts has many advantages over classic organic chemistry approaches, such as increased yields, high stereo- and regio-specificity without the need for protection group chemistry, and use of renewable living catalysts.

In addition, we have several collaborative projects concerning gut microbiota. These studies include those with Dr. Day Ligon (Missouri State University) to analyze the changes in gut microbiota of alligator snapping turtles under different types of nutritional feeding to enhance laboratory and sanctuary rearing success of these threatened species. We also collaborate with Dr. Alder Yu (UWL) on the effect of fruit fly gut microbiota on various aspects of fly health, which serves as a model for how gut microbiota may impact a variety of aspects of human health. 

More detail can be found on the lab website. 

Kudos

published

Paul Schweiger, Microbiology, authored the article "Determining the functional role of the Gluconobacter oxydans GOX1969 protein as a BamB homolog" in Microbiology Spectrum published on June 25 by the American Society for Microbiology. Ky Ariano, UWL Microbiology undergraduate alumni, is a co-author on the paper.

Submitted on: July 22

published

Paul Schweiger, Microbiology, authored the article "Draft genome sequences of two Gluconobacter strains isolated from spoiled orange juice" in Microbiology Resource Announcements, published Monday, July 22 by the American Society for Microbiology. Two alumni, Ky Ariano, UWL Microbiology undergraduate student, and Tayler Farrington, UWL Microbiology graduate student, are co-authors on the paper.

Submitted on: July 22

named

Paul Schweiger, Microbiology, was named Review Editor on the Editorial Board of Frontiers in Industrial Microbiology: Fuels and Chemicals on Jan. 28.

Submitted on: Feb. 6, 2023

published

Paul Schweiger, Microbiology, co-authored the article "Horizontal gene transfer-mediated bacterial strain variation affects host fitness in Drosophila" in BMC Biology published on Sept. 27 by Springer Nature.

Submitted on: Sept. 28, 2021

presented

Haley Castle, BIO: Biology BS; Teja Bhimavarapu, BIO: Biomedical Science BS; Alder Yu, Biology; Shianne Stacy, MIC: Clinical Microbiology; Travis Leuzinger, MIC: Microbiology BS; and Paul Schweiger, Microbiology; presented "Circadian rhythms in gut microbes of Drosophila melanogaster" at the 2020 Midwest Drosophila Conference on Oct. 24 in Online (Hosted by Indiana University Bloomington).

Submitted on: Nov. 4, 2020