Marc Chevrette

Marc Chevrette serves as an Assistant Professor and Discovery Fellow in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison's College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, with laboratory operations based in the Discovery Building. His interdisciplinary research bridges genomics, bioinformatics, and microbiology to investigate microbial secondary metabolism and interspecies interactions within complex communities.

Education:

• PhD in Genetics, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Dr. Chevrette's research program centers on evolutionary-guided natural product discovery, specializing in genome mining for novel antibiotics and biosynthetic pathway characterization. His lab develops computational tools like GATOR-GC to map biosynthetic diversity across bacterial lineages, with particular emphasis on lasso peptides, nonribosomal synthetases, and microbial community dynamics. This work integrates phylogenetics with experimental validation to uncover chemical ecology principles driving secondary metabolism.

Analysis of his 2023-2025 publications reveals consistent innovation in bioinformatics infrastructure (antiSMASH, MIBiG) and machine learning applications for substrate specificity prediction. His research demonstrates strong translational potential for antimicrobial discovery, with recurring themes of evolutionary adaptation in biosynthetic gene clusters and community-mediated metabolite regulation.

Scientific Awards:

• Discovery Fellow (Wisconsin Institute for Discovery)

Dr. Chevrette directs an active research group supported by federal grants focused on antibiotic discovery and microbial ecology. His mentorship includes training graduate students in interdisciplinary methodologies spanning computational biology, microbial genetics, and natural product chemistry, with emphasis on translating genomic insights into experimental validation.

The Chevrette Lab operates within the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, leveraging its collaborative environment to integrate genomic data with ecological modeling. Current projects investigate how nutrient availability and interspecies competition shape biosynthetic potential in soil and marine microbial communities, with implications for drug discovery pipelines.