2019 participants
Kirsten Baillie
The Bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus, more commonly known as MRSA, colonises mammals and is frequently associated with skin infections. To colonise a host and cause disease, S. aureus must compete with the residing microbes. This may be achived via the secretion of toxins which target other microorganisms.S. aureus contains a Type VII Secretion System(T7SS) which has been shown to secrete 2 toxic substrate proteins to achieve such goals, however, further T7SS-dependant proteins mediating pathogenicity must exist. The genes; EsxB, EsxC, and EsxD, each encode a protein secreted by the T7SS, however, their functions are currently unknown. This project aims to determine whether EsxB, EsxC, or EsxD are toxic to E. coli when produced in 2 different compartments of the cell.
Funding source: Society for Applied Microbiology
Project supervisor: Professor Tracy Palmer