College of Dentistry
Lemos-Abranches Laboratory
Led by Jose Lemos · Oral Biology
What we study
The lab studies how bacteria like Streptococcus mutans and Enterococcus faecalis tolerate stress, which helps them cause infections. They focus on stress regulators, metal transport, and nucleotide signaling to understand virulence and host-pathogen interactions.
What working here is like
- Wet lab
- Bacteria & microbes
- Coding helps
- Projects
- 4
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Characterization of the oxidative stress regulator Spx in S. mutans
Exploring how Spx controls stress responses and biofilm formation in S. mutans.
Collagen binding protein in S. mutans
Investigating a protein that helps S. mutans invade tissues, linked to increased virulence.
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Regulatory nucleotides in E. faecalis
Studying how nucleotides like ppGpp and c-di-AMP influence E. faecalis' survival under stress.
Exploring Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium interactions using a coculture model
The lab grows two gut bacteria, E. faecalis and E. faecium, together under oxygen‑rich and oxygen‑poor conditions in two types of growth media to see how they affect each other's growth. Results so far show E. faecalis suppresses E. faecium in all tested conditions, and future work will test more host‑like factors and look for the genes behind this advantage.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 474
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Zinc-enhanced activity of an antimicrobial halogenated phenazine against Streptococcus mutans and other gram-positive bacteria
2026 · mSphere
Tests whether zinc boosts an antibiotic's effect on S. mutans.
- Zinc tolerance through glutathione import strikes a fine balance between protection and damage in Streptococcus mutans
2026 · Microbiology
Shows how S. mutans balances zinc protection and damage using glutathione.
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- Characterization of a novel cell wall-associated nucleotidase of Enterococcus faecalis that degrades extracellular c-di-AMP
2026 · PLoS Pathogens
Finds a cell wall enzyme in E. faecalis that breaks down a stress signal called c-di-AMP.
- A Streptococcus mutans retrospective: from oral pathogen to bacterial paradigm
2026 · Journal of Bacteriology
Reviews S. mutans research, showing its role in dental disease and broader microbiology.
- Metal uptake systems underpin Enterococcus faecalis virulence in both non-diabetic and diabetic wound infection models
2025 · Infection and Immunity
Shows how E. faecalis uses metal uptake to survive in wounds.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Jose Lemos hasn't set up this page yet. Their UF Scholars profile lists their publications.