Our research project aims to tackle the problem of persistence and chronic infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. P. aeruginosa is a gram-negative bacterium found in various environments including soil, water and vegetation. Importantly it is an opportunistic human pathogen, responsible for numerous nosocomial infections in immuno-compromised patients. These infections are fatal in cystic fibrosis patients.
Our project follows several research lines, which deal with essential molecular mechanisms involved in biofilm formation and type VI protein secretion. These two key processes are co-regulated and highly relevant for P. aeruginosa pathogenesis. The regulatory control involves signalling pathways associated with two-component regulatory systems and the intracellular second messenger c-di-GMP. We address these questions using multi-disciplinary approaches in molecular microbiology, genetics, cellular microbiology, structural biology and biochemistry.