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Torey Looft

Research Microbiologist

 

Torey Looft
National Animal Disease Center
Research Microbiologist
e-mail: torey.looft@ars.usda.gov
 Phone (515) 337-7140
P.O. Box 70
1920 Dayton Ave.Ames, IA  50010

Education/Experience:

1997-2001 Bowling Green State University; major, Biology; BS, 2002
2002-2005 Bowling Green State University; major, Conservation Biology; MS.
2007-2012 Iowa State University; major, Microbiology; Ph.D. 2012
2012-2013 GS-11, Postdoctoral Research Microbiologist, USDA, ARS, NADC
2013-Present GS-13, Research Microbiologist, USDA, ARS, NADC

Projects:

  1. Investigate the effects of antibiotics and non-antibiotic feed additives on the expression and transmission of virulence, fitness or antimicrobial resistance genes in intestinal microbial populations.
  2. Characterize host responses to Campylobacter spp. colonization and subsequent changes in intestinal microbiota.
  3. Evaluate environmental and host influences on gut bacterial ecological niches and foodborne pathogen control strategies.

Laboratory Personnel:

Lisa Lai - Biological Science Lab Tech
Timothy Johnson - Post doc
Laura Tucker – Stud. Biol. Sci.

Recent Publications: Complete list of published work: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Looft+T[Author]

Johnson, T. A., R. D. Stedtfeld, Q. Wang, J. R. Cole, S. A. Hashsham, T. Looft, Y.-  Zhu and J. M. Tiedje. "Clusters of Antibiotic Resistance Genes Enriched Together Stay Together in Swine Agriculture." mBio 7(2). 2016.

Looft T., D. O. Bayles, D. P. Alt, T. B. Stanton. Complete genome sequence of Coriobacteriaceae Strain 68-1-3, a novel mucus- degrading isolate from the swine intestinal tract. Genome Announc. 3: e01143. 2015.

Looft T., H. K. Allen, T. A. Casey, D. P. Alt, T. B. Stanton. Carbadox has both temporary and lasting effects on the swine gut microbiota. Front Microbiol 5: 276.

Allen H.K., J. Trachsel, T. Looft, T. A. Casey. Finding alternatives to antibiotics. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1323(1): 91-100. 2014

Looft, T., H. K. Allen, B. L. Cantarel, U. Y. Levine, D. O. Bayles, D. P. Alt, B. Henrissat, T. B. Stanton. Bacteria, phages, and pigs: The effects of in-feed antibiotics on the microbiome at different gut locations. ISME J. 8: 1566-1576. 2014. 

Bearson S. M. D., H. K. Allen, B. L. Bearson, T. Looft, B.W. Brunelle, J. D. Kich, C. K. Tuggle, D. O. Bayles, D. Alt, U. Y. Levine, T. B. Stanton. Profiling the gastrointestinal microbiota in response to Salmonella: low versus high Salmonella shedding in the porcine host. Infect Genet Evol 16: 330-340. 2013.

Allen H. K., U. Y. Levine, T. Looft, M. Bandrick, T. A. Casey. Treatment, promotion, commotion: Antibiotic alternatives in food-producing animals. Trends in microbiology 21: 114-119. 2013.

Looft T., U. Y. Levine, and T. B. Stanton. Cloacibacillus porcorum sp. nov.,–a mucin-degrading bacterium from the swine intestinal tract. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 63: 1960-1966. 2013.