Disciplines
Bacteriology | Biochemistry | Genetics | Laboratory and Basic Science Research | Pathogenic Microbiology
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is a gram-negative, ubiquitously-found bacterium that primarily causes nosocomial, or hospital-borne, infections within immunocompromised patients. Therefore, it has been deemed a critical priority pathogen by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), generating a need for research on its fundamental biology. The Van Dyke laboratory focuses on proteins called transcription factors, which promote or repress gene expression to regulate an organism’s functioning. We are specifically studying the cadmium-responsive transcription factor, CadR, due to the importance of metals in virulence and the lack of information on PA’s response to metal fluctuations. We intend to validate the binding of CadR to its preferred DNA sequence and determine the genes it controls, with a possible novel gene being discovered in the PAO1 strain. This will be conducted via in vitro and in vivo techniques, including Electromobility Shift Assay (EMSA) and Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP).
Academic department under which the project should be listed
CSM - Chemistry and Biochemistry
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Michael Van Dyke
Included in
Bacteriology Commons, Biochemistry Commons, Genetics Commons, Laboratory and Basic Science Research Commons, Pathogenic Microbiology Commons
Transcription Factor Binding and Discovery of Novel Gene in the Opportunistic Human Pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is a gram-negative, ubiquitously-found bacterium that primarily causes nosocomial, or hospital-borne, infections within immunocompromised patients. Therefore, it has been deemed a critical priority pathogen by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), generating a need for research on its fundamental biology. The Van Dyke laboratory focuses on proteins called transcription factors, which promote or repress gene expression to regulate an organism’s functioning. We are specifically studying the cadmium-responsive transcription factor, CadR, due to the importance of metals in virulence and the lack of information on PA’s response to metal fluctuations. We intend to validate the binding of CadR to its preferred DNA sequence and determine the genes it controls, with a possible novel gene being discovered in the PAO1 strain. This will be conducted via in vitro and in vivo techniques, including Electromobility Shift Assay (EMSA) and Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP).