Dr. Margaret J. McFall-Ngai

Lab information

Research Interests

Symbiotic associations between animals and prokaryotes:

Signaling between partners during establishment and maintenance of a symbiosis.
The influence of bacteria on animal development.
The evolution of animal-bacterial interactions.

The ‘design’ of tissues that interact with light:

The biochemical basis of transparency and reflectivity.

Academic Training

1973, BS in Biology, University of San Francisco
1983, Ph.D. in Biology, UCLA
1984-1986, Postdoctoral Fellow, Jules Stein Eye Inst, UCLA
1986-1988, Postdoctoral Fellow, Scripps Inst of Oceanography, UC San Diego

Recent Research Papers – NCBI PubMed search for "M.J. McFall-Ngai"

Adin, D. M., N. J. Phillips, B. W. Gibson, M. A. Apicella, E. G. Ruby, M. J. McFall-Ngai, D. B. Hall, E.V. Stabb. 2008. Characterization of htrB and msbB mutants of the light organ symbiont Vibrio fischeri. Appl. Environ. Microbiol, 74:633-44.

Chun, C. K., J. V. Troll, I. Koroleva, B. Brown, L. Manzella, E. Snir, H. Almabrazi, T. E. Scheetz, M. Bonaldo, T. L. Casavant, M. B. Soares, E. G. Ruby, M. J. McFall-Ngai. 2008. Effects of colonization, luminescence and autoinducer on global host transcription in the developing squid-vibrio symbiosis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (in press).

Castillo, M. G., M. S. Goodson, M. J. McFall-Ngai. 2008. Identification and molecular characterization of a complement-C3 molecule in a lophotrochozoan, the Hawaiian bobtail squid Eupyrmna scolopes. Dev. Comp. Immunol. (in press).

McFall-Ngai, M. J. 2008. Quick Guide: The Hawaiian Bobtail Squid. Curr. Biol. (in press).

McFall-Ngai, M. J. 2008. Symbiosis integrates biology across Domains. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. (in press).

Nyholm, S. V., J. J. Stewart, E. G. Ruby, M. J. McFall-Ngai. 2008. Recognition between symbiotic Vibrio fischeri and the hemocytes of Euprymna scolopes. Environ. Microbiol. (in press).

Dethlefsen, L., M. J. McFall-Ngai, D. A. Relman 2007. The impact of evolving with microbes on human health and disease. Invited Insight Nature, 449:811-818.

Koropatnick, T. A., J. R. Kimbell, M. J. McFall-Ngai. 2007. Responses of Host Hemocytes During the Initiation of the Squid-Vibrio Symbiosis. Biol. Bull, 212:29-39.

McFall-Ngai, M. J. 2007. Care for the community: A memory-based immune system may have evolved in vertebrates because of the need to recognize and manage complex communities of beneficial microbes. Commissioned "Concept" paper, Nature, 445:153.

McFall-Ngai, M. J. 2007. Love the one you’re with: vertebrate guts shape their microbiota. Preview. Cell, 127:247-249.

McFall-Ngai, M. J., V. de Lorenzo. 2007. The ultimate rendezvous: microbial ecology meets industrial microbiology. Curr. Opin. Microbiol, 10:205-206.

Whistler, C., T. A. Koropatnick, A. Pollack, M. J. McFall-Ngai, E. G. Ruby. 2007. The GacA global regulator of Vibrio fischeri is required for normal host tissue responses that limit subsequent bacterial colonization. Cellul Microbiol, 9:766-778.

Chun, C. K., T. E. Scheetz, M. de Fatima Bonaldo, B. Brown, A. Clemens, W. J. Crookes-Goodson, K. Crouch, T. DeMartini, M. Eyestone, M. S. Goodson, B. Janssens, J. L Kimbell, T. A. Koropatnick, T. Kucaba, C. Smith, J. J. Stewart, D. Tong, J. V. Troll, S. Webster, J. Winhall-Rice, C. Yap, T. L. Casavant, M. J. McFall-Ngai1, M. B. Soares. 2006. An annotated cDNA library of juvenile Euprymna scolopes with and without colonization by the symbiont Vibrio fischeri. BMC Genomics, 7:154.

Cloud-Hansen, K. A., S. B. Peterson, E. V. Stabb, W. E. Goldman, M. J. McFall-Ngai, J. Handelsman. 2006. Breaching the great wall: peptidoglycan and microbial interactions. Nat. Rev. Microbiol, 4:710-6.

Goodson, M. S., W. J. Crookes-Goodson, J. R. Kimbell, M. J. McFall-Ngai. 2006. Characterization and Role of p53 Family Members in the Symbiont-Induced Morphogenesis of the Euprymna scolopes Light Organ. Biol. Bull, 211:7-17.

Kimbell, J. R., T. A. Koropatnick, M. J. McFall-Ngai. 2006. Evidence for the Participation of the Proteasome in Symbiont-Induced Tissue Morphogenesis. Biol. Bull, 211:1-6.

McFall-Ngai, M. J. 2006. Love the One You’re with: Vertebrate Guts Shape Their Microbiota. Cell, 127(2):247-249.

Sycuro, L. K., E. G. Ruby, M. McFall-Ngai. 2006. Confocal Microscopy of the Light Organ Crypts in Juvenile Euprymna scolopes Reveals Their Morphological Complexity and Dynamic Function in Symbiosis. J. Morphol, 267(5):555-68.

Goodson, M. S., M. Kojadinovic, J. V. Troll, T. E. Scheetz, T. L. Casavant, M. B. Soares, and M. J. McFall-Ngai. 2005. Identifying Components of the NF- B Pathway in the Beneficial Euprymna scolopes-Vibrio fischeri Light Organ Symbiosis. Appl Environ Microbiol, 71(11):6934–6946.

Davidson, S. K., T. A. Koropatnick, R. Kossmehl, L. Sycuro, M. J. McFall-Ngai. 2004. NO means ‘yes’ in the squid-vibrio sy mbiosis: nitric oxide (NO) during the initial stages of a beneficial association. Cell Microbiol., 6(12):1139-51.

Koropatnick, T. A., J. T. Engle, M. A. Apicella, E. V. Stabb, W. E. Goldman, M. J. McFall-Ngai. 2004. Microbial Factor-Mediated Development in a Host-Bacterial Mutualism. Science, 306(5699):1186-8.

Kimbell, JR and MJ McFall-Ngai, 2004. Symbiont-induced changes in host actin during the onset of a Beneficial animal-bacteria association. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70:1434-1441

Crookes, WJ, LL Ding, QL Huang, JR Kimbell, J Horwitz, and MJ McFall-Ngai. 2004. Reflectins: The unusual proteins of squid reflective tissues. Science. 303:235-238.

Nyholm, SV and MJ McFall-Ngai. 2003. Dominance of Vibrio fischeri in secreted mucus outside the light organ of Euprymna scolopes: the first site of symbiont specificity. Appl. Environ. Micrbiol. 69:3932-3937.

Nyholm, SV, B DePlanke, HR Gaskins, M Apicella, and MJ McFall-Ngai. 2002. The roles of symbiotic and nonsymbiotic bacteria in the dynamics of mucus secretion during symbiont colonization of the Euprymna scolopes light organ. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68:5113-5122.

Foster, JS, MA Apicella, and MJ McFall-Ngai. 2000. Vibrio fischeri lipopolysaccharide induces developmental apoptosis, but not complete morphogenesis, of the Euprymna scolopes symbiotic light organ. Dev. Biol. 226:242-254.

Nyholm, SV, EV Stabb, EG Ruby and MJ McFall-Ngai. 2000. Establishment of an animal-bacterial association: recruiting symbiotic vibrios from the environment. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 97:10231-10294.

Other Publications

McFall-Ngai, M. J. 2007. The squid-vibrio association: A naturally occurring experimental model of animal-bacterial partnerships. In: Gut Microbiota and Regulation of the Immune System. G Huffnagle and M Noverr, eds. Landes Bioscience Press, Austin, TX.

McFall-Ngai, M. J., J. I. Gordon. 2005. Experimental models of symbiotic host-microbial relationships: understanding the underpinnings of beneficence and the origins of pathogenesis. Evolution of Microbial Virulence, H Seifert & V DiRita, eds., ASM Press, Washington, DC.

McFall-Ngai, M. J., B. Henderson, E. G. Ruby. 2005. The Influence of Cooperative Bacteria on Animal Host Biology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Nyholm, S. V., M. J. McFall-Ngai. 2004. The Winnowing: Establishing the Squid–Vibrio Symbiosis. Nat. Rev. Microbiol., 2(8):632-42.

Ruby, EG, B Henderson, MJ McFall-Ngai. 2004. We get by with a little help from our (little) friends. A Perspective (meeting report). Science. 303:1305-1307.

McFall-Ngai, MJ. In Press. The interface of microbiology and immunology: a comparative analysis of the animal kingdom. The Influence of Cooperative Bacteria on Animal Host Biology, eds., McFall-Ngai MJ, B Henderson, and EG Ruby, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

McFall-Ngai, MJ and JI Gordon. In Press. Experimental models of symbiotic host-microbial relationships: understanding the underpinnings of beneficence and the origins of pathogenesis. Evolution of Microbial Virulence, eds., Seifert, H, and V DiRita, ASM Press, Washington DC.

McFall-Ngai, MJ. 2002. Unseen forces: the influence of bacteria on animal development. Dev. Biol. 242:1-14.