Samuel Went

• CDT Doctoral Researcher Supervisor: Tim Blower
• Email: samuel.c.went@durham.ac.uk
• Project Title: Molecular tools from bacteriophages: A structural and functional characterisation of the BREX bacteriophage resistance system

Institution: Durham University

Project summary: The re-emergence of phage therapy as a potential alternative to antibiotics provides a plausible solution to combating multi-drug resistant bacteria. Wide-scale use of phage therapy will require a thorough understanding of mechanisms by which bacteria resist phage infection. BREX (bacteriophage exclusion) is a novel bacteriophage resistance system which recognises self from non-self via methylation of a conserved DNA motif. As BREX and BREX-like systems are highly conserved – being present in approximately 10% of sequenced microbial genomes – understanding the mechanisms of this system will potentially guide phage design for therapeutic use against a number of clinical strains. My PhD project aims to do just this, through a structural and functional characterisation of the BREX system from the clinically relevant Salmonella Typhimurium strain D23580 from sub-Saharan Africa.

In addition, as many useful biotechnological tools have been derived from phage-resistance systems (restriction enzymes, Cas9 etc.), investigating the mechanism of BREX also has the potential to provide useful reagents for research.

 Interesting Fact: I have completed 4 Great North Runs (so far!).