Johan Bengtsson-Palme

DDLS Fellow, Chalmers

Lab Website

johan.bengtsson.palme@chalmers.se

Keywords

antibiotic resistance, DDLS, emerging infectious diseases, Machine learning, Metagenomics, microbal communities, Microbiology, pathogenesis

Key publications

Bahram M, Hildebrand F, Forslund SK, Anderson JL, Soudzilovskaia NA, Bodegom PM, Bengtsson-Palme J, Anslan S, et al.: Structure and function of the global topsoil microbiome. Nature, 560, 7717, 233–237 (2018). doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0386-6

Bengtsson-Palme J, Kristiansson E, Larsson DGJ: Environmental factors influencing the development and spread of antibiotic resistance. FEMS Microbiology Reviews, 42, 1, 68–80 (2018). doi: 10.1093/femsre/fux053

Begtsson-Palme J, Larsson DGJ: Concentrations of antibiotics predicted to select for resistant bacteria: Proposed limits for environmental regulation. Environment International, 86, 140–149 (2016). doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2015.10.015

Bengtsson-Palme J: Microbial model communities: To understand complexity, harness the power of simplicity. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, 18, 3987-4001 (2020). doi: 10.1016/j.csbj.2020.11.043

Bengtsson-Palme J, Ryberg M, Hartmann M, Branco S, Wang Z, Godhe A, De Wit P, Sánchez-García M, et al.: Improved software detection and extraction of ITS1 and ITS2 from ribosomal ITS sequences of fungi and other eukaryotes for use in environmental sequencing. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 4, 10, 914–919 (2013). doi: 10.1111/2041-210X.12073

Bengtsson-Palme J, Hartmann M, Eriksson KM, Pal C, Thorell K, Larsson DGJ, Nilsson RH: Metaxa2: Improved identification and taxonomic classification of small and large subunit rRNA in metagenomic data. Molecular Ecology Resources, 15, 6, 1403–1414 (2015). doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.12399

SciLifeLab / Contact / Johan Bengtsson-Palme

Johan Bengtsson-Palme

Research Interests

Our research is centered on the ecology and evolution of opportunistic pathogens, the genes involved in virulence, competition, transfer of genetic material and antibiotic resistance, and the factors that support interactions between bacteria in microbiomes. The aim of our research is to combine data-driven bioinformatic approaches with high-throughput molecular methods and the robust theories developed for plant and animal ecology to understand pathogens, microbial communities and their interactions, in order to improve human and environmental health.

We mainly do work in three areas associated with this overarching goal: i) the mechanisms behind pathogenicity, ii) the effects of disrupted interactions in microbiomes, and iii) the development and spread of antibiotic resistance. In addition, the lab develops tools for large-scale bioinformatic analysis of high-throughput data, including the widely used ITSx and Metaxa software, to support cutting-edge research in these three areas. We also maintain a strong interest in maintaining and improving accuracy and reliability of sequence databases. You can read more on our specific projects below, or at our lab website: https://microbiology.se

Group Members

Johan Bengtsson-Palme, assistant professor
Anna Abramova, postdoc
Emil Burman, doctoral student
Mirjam Dannborg, doctoral student
Marcus Wenne, bioinformatician
Lisa Teichmann, external associated doctoral student