The Gram-negative oral anaerobe Fusobacterium nucleatum has the ability to spread to different extra-oral sites, such as placenta and colon, promoting preterm birth and colorectal cancer. How this pathobiont adapts to various metabolically changing environments is not well understood. This diversity supplement supports the research training of a graduate student who aims to test the hypothesis that F. nucleatum utilizes environmental ethanolamine via specialized organelles called bacterial microcompartments (BMCs) as a mechanism of metabolic adaptation. Specially, this student will examine how BMCs are formed in response to environmental ethanolamine and how genetic disruption of BMC formation affects bacterial virulence in a mouse model of infection. The results generated from this study will not only provide important knowledge regarding the pathophysiology of F. nucleatum and identify promising therapeutic targets, but also have potential to advance the broad field of host-pathogen interactions.