Faculty

Guy Townsend

Associate Professor of Molecular & Precision Medicine

H171 Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hershey, PA

Email gxt191@psu.edu

Overview

My laboratory investigates mechanisms facilitating bacterial colonization of the mammalian intestine to understand how and why the gut microbiome changes during disease.

Areas of Expertise

Grand Unified Theory Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Bacteroides Thetaiotaomicron Keyphrases
Mammalian Gut Keyphrases
Intestine Flora Immunology and Microbiology
Bacteroides Thetaiotaomicron Immunology and Microbiology
Bacteroides Immunology and Microbiology
Carbohydrate Utilization Keyphrases
Bacterium Immunology and Microbiology

Short autoinhibitory sequences control phase separation of an essential bacterial transcription termination factor
Emilia Krypotou, Kiersten M. Ruff, Leah K. McKinney, Guy E. Townsend, Jue D. Wang, Rohit V. Pappu, Eduardo A. Groisman, 2026, In: EMBO Journal
Date: 2026

A synthetic gut microbiota provides an understanding of the maintenance and functional impact of phage
Heejung Koo, Kerim Heber, Shuchang Tian, Shane T. Connolly, Fuhua Hao, Jingcheng Zhao, Bethany Swencki-Underwood, Andrew D. Patterson, Guy E. Townsend, Jordan E. Bisanz, Dec 2025, In: mBio
Date: Dec 2025

Hierarchical glycolytic pathways control the carbohydrate utilization regulator in human gut Bacteroides
Seth G. Kabonick, Kamalesh Verma, Jennifer L. Modesto, Victoria H. Pearce, Kailyn M. Winokur, Eduardo A. Groisman, Guy E. Townsend, Dec 2025, In: Nature communications
Date: Dec 2025

Harnessing gut microbes for glycan detection and quantification
Jennifer L. Modesto, Victoria H. Pearce, Guy E. Townsend, Dec 2023, In: Nature communications
Date: Dec 2023

Bacteria require phase separation for fitness in the mammalian gut
Emilia Krypotou, Guy E. Townsend, Xiaohui Gao, Shoichi Tachiyama, Jun Liu, Nick D. Pokorzynski, Andrew L. Goodman, Eduardo A. Groisman, Mar 17 2023, In: Science
Date: Mar 17 2023

Dietary sugars silence the master regulator of carbohydrate utilization in human gut Bacteroides species
Victoria H. Pearce, Eduardo A. Groisman, Guy E. Townsend, 2023, In: Gut microbes
Date: 2023

Gut colonization by Bacteroides requires translation by an EF-G paralog lacking GTPase activity
Weiwei Han, Bee Zen Peng, Chunyan Wang, Guy E. Townsend, Natasha A. Barry, Frank Peske, Andrew L. Goodman, Jun Liu, Marina V. Rodnina, Eduardo A. Groisman, 2022, In: EMBO Journal
Date: 2022

Erratum
Guy E. Townsend, Weiwei Han, Nathan D. Schwalm, Xinyu Hong, Natasha A. Bencivenga-Barry, Andrew L. Goodman, Eduardo A. Groisman, Mar 1 2020, In: mBio
Date: Mar 1 2020

A master regulator of bacteroides thetaiotaomicron gut colonization controls carbohydrate utilization and an alternative protein synthesis factor
Guy E. Townsend, Weiwei Han, Nathan D. Schwalm, Xinyu Hong, Natasha A. Bencivenga-Barry, Andrew L. Goodman, Eduardo A. Groisman, Jan 1 2020, In: mBio
Date: Jan 1 2020

Dietary sugar silences a colonization factor in a mammalian gut symbiont
Guy E. Townsend, Weiwei Han, Nathan D. Schwalm, Varsha Raghavan, Natasha A. Barry, Andrew L. Goodman, Eduardo A. Groisman, Jan 2 2019, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Date: Jan 2 2019

View All Publications →

Multiple signals govern utilization of a polysaccharide in the gut bacterium bacteroides thetaiotaomicron
Nathan D. Schwalm, Guy E. Townsend, Eduardo A. Groisman, Sep 1 2016, In: mBio
Citations: 63

Tuning transcription of nutrient utilization genes to catabolic rate promotes growth in a gut bacterium
Varsha Raghavan, Elisabeth C. Lowe, Guy E. Townsend, David N. Bolam, Eduardo A. Groisman, Sep 2014, In: Molecular Microbiology
Citations: 46

Prioritization of polysaccharide utilization and control of regulator activation in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron
Nathan D. Schwalm, Guy E. Townsend, Eduardo A. Groisman, Apr 1 2017, In: Molecular Microbiology
Citations: 43

Intramolecular arrangement of sensor and regulator overcomes relaxed specificity in hybrid two-component systems
Guy E. Townsend, Varsha Raghavan, Igor Zwir, Eduardo A. Groisman, Jan 8 2013, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Citations: 29

Mesorhizobium loti produces nodPQ-dependent sulfated cell surface polysaccharides
Guy E. Townsend, Lennart S. Forsberg, David H. Keating, Dec 2006, In: Journal of bacteriology
Citations: 23