Untangling the matrix of bacterial biofilms. This research aims to use forefront molecular microbiology and biophysical approaches to advance fundamental knowledge on bacterial biofilms. These bacterial clusters are held together by an extracellular matrix comprised of bacterial-derived fibrous protein and the polysaccharide cellulose, which imparts structural integrity and resistance to antimicrobials. The major goals of this project are to dissect how bacteria regulate production of the biofil ....Untangling the matrix of bacterial biofilms. This research aims to use forefront molecular microbiology and biophysical approaches to advance fundamental knowledge on bacterial biofilms. These bacterial clusters are held together by an extracellular matrix comprised of bacterial-derived fibrous protein and the polysaccharide cellulose, which imparts structural integrity and resistance to antimicrobials. The major goals of this project are to dissect how bacteria regulate production of the biofilm matrix, and examine how changes in the composition of the matrix alters its properties, including the penetration of antimicrobial peptides and antibiotics. The outcomes will help address the economic burden of difficult to treat industrial, environmental and biomedical biofilms.Read moreRead less
Creation of a super-resolution map of the bacterial cytokinesis machinery . Cell division is a fundamental process essential for life. Yet our understanding of this process on a molecular level is limited, mostly hampered by the inability to visualize the different components of the division machinery inside these tiny cells with adequate resolution. To overcome this barrier, capitalizing on recent advancements in imaging and molecular technologies combined with innovative engineering, this proj ....Creation of a super-resolution map of the bacterial cytokinesis machinery . Cell division is a fundamental process essential for life. Yet our understanding of this process on a molecular level is limited, mostly hampered by the inability to visualize the different components of the division machinery inside these tiny cells with adequate resolution. To overcome this barrier, capitalizing on recent advancements in imaging and molecular technologies combined with innovative engineering, this project aims to create a spatial and temporal map of the division machinery inside bacterial cells at unprecedented resolution. The expected outcomes are new knowledge on the mechanism of bacterial division and technological advances in biological imaging, informing applications in a wide variety of sectors.Read moreRead less
Anthocyanin Inhibitors to the Influenza Virus. The increasing resistance of circulating influenza strains to current anti-viral inhibitors has prompted an investigation to screen, design, synthesize and evaluate a new class of natural product based inhibitors to the virus employing novel and innovative mass spectrometry, computational and structural approaches. Preliminary studies reveal they offer benefits in terms of a different mode of binding to influenza neuraminidase, remote from many know ....Anthocyanin Inhibitors to the Influenza Virus. The increasing resistance of circulating influenza strains to current anti-viral inhibitors has prompted an investigation to screen, design, synthesize and evaluate a new class of natural product based inhibitors to the virus employing novel and innovative mass spectrometry, computational and structural approaches. Preliminary studies reveal they offer benefits in terms of a different mode of binding to influenza neuraminidase, remote from many known resistance mutations, and may have specific practicality against N1 neuraminidase in H1N1 and H5N1 viruses responsible for all pandemics of the 20th and 21st centuries. The research will enable the potential of these inhibitors to be fully assessed at the molecular level for the first time.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE160100127
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$355,000.00
Summary
Superresolution fluorescence imaging in microbiology. Superresolution fluorescence imaging in microbiology:
This project involves the purchase of new, and upgrade of existing, fluorescence imaging tools to facilitate the study of intracellular processes in microbial systems at significantly higher spatial and temporal resolutions than hitherto possible. Visualisation of the structure and dynamics of intracellular molecular assemblies at maximal resolution is required to understand protein funct ....Superresolution fluorescence imaging in microbiology. Superresolution fluorescence imaging in microbiology:
This project involves the purchase of new, and upgrade of existing, fluorescence imaging tools to facilitate the study of intracellular processes in microbial systems at significantly higher spatial and temporal resolutions than hitherto possible. Visualisation of the structure and dynamics of intracellular molecular assemblies at maximal resolution is required to understand protein function inside living cells. The new equipment is designed to provide a fast super-resolution imaging system to study the intracellular dynamics of proteins in vitro and a super-resolution microscope to visualise structures and assemblies inside microbes with a resolution of tens of nanometres, putting in vitro biochemistry into the context of a living cell. Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE140100032
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,000,000.00
Summary
A ToF-SIMS facility for elemental and isotopic imaging of ultra-fine features for researchers in east Australia. A time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometer facility for elemental and isotopic imaging of ultra-fine features: Microbiology has long been an area of strength in Australian science. With recent technological advances microbiology has entered a new golden age unveiling an extraordinary level of diversity and the central role of microbes in global biogeochemistry. The 'omics' era i ....A ToF-SIMS facility for elemental and isotopic imaging of ultra-fine features for researchers in east Australia. A time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometer facility for elemental and isotopic imaging of ultra-fine features: Microbiology has long been an area of strength in Australian science. With recent technological advances microbiology has entered a new golden age unveiling an extraordinary level of diversity and the central role of microbes in global biogeochemistry. The 'omics' era is generating endless hypotheses regarding geochemical processes carried out by microbes and this necessitates the application of advanced technologies to generate empirical support. Time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry has emerged as a key tool to unravel elemental cycling carried out by microorganisms in mixed species communities in contexts ranging from terrestrial to marine ecology and from groundwater bioremediation to biogas production biotechnologies.Read moreRead less
Mapping cell wall and surface structures of Gram-positive cocci. The synthesis of the Gram-positive cell wall and protein transport are fundamental processes, the improved understanding of which will impact across a range of fields including microbiology, biochemistry and biotechnology, and the application and manipulation of Gram-positive bacteria in agriculture, industry and human health. In the long-term, the analysis of the Gram-positive ExPortal and cell wall will identify proteins that ma ....Mapping cell wall and surface structures of Gram-positive cocci. The synthesis of the Gram-positive cell wall and protein transport are fundamental processes, the improved understanding of which will impact across a range of fields including microbiology, biochemistry and biotechnology, and the application and manipulation of Gram-positive bacteria in agriculture, industry and human health. In the long-term, the analysis of the Gram-positive ExPortal and cell wall will identify proteins that may represent targets for therapeutic intervention. Additionally a precise understanding of the mechanisms of secretion of anchorless proteins will have an important impact in the biotechnology field, as new methodologies for the secretion of recombinant proteins of industrial value is a potential outcome.Read moreRead less
Targeted isolation of specific marine bacterial species associated with higher organsims for the purpose of discovering new antimicrobial compounds. Specific bacterial species that are commonly found in association with marine plants and animals often produce active secondary metabolites. The aim of this project is to apply our understanding of these bacterial-host associations to the targeted isolation of novel antimicrobials from the marine environment. While these new compounds will undoubted ....Targeted isolation of specific marine bacterial species associated with higher organsims for the purpose of discovering new antimicrobial compounds. Specific bacterial species that are commonly found in association with marine plants and animals often produce active secondary metabolites. The aim of this project is to apply our understanding of these bacterial-host associations to the targeted isolation of novel antimicrobials from the marine environment. While these new compounds will undoubtedly have a number of commercial applications this project focuses on the development of products for dental hygiene in animals. Generally, the urgent need for new antimicrobial compounds to combat the growing number of microbes that are resistant to current antibiotics highlights the importance of this project.Read moreRead less
Safety in numbers: Bacterial aggregation and adaptation to oxidative stress. This project is a new collaboration which links two molecular microbiologists with the complementary skills required to make new insights into the molecular processes that underpin bacterial aggregation and biofilm formation. Biofilms are of immense significance in medical, industrial and environmental settings and so the fundamental information gained from this project will have wider relevance to the field of microbio ....Safety in numbers: Bacterial aggregation and adaptation to oxidative stress. This project is a new collaboration which links two molecular microbiologists with the complementary skills required to make new insights into the molecular processes that underpin bacterial aggregation and biofilm formation. Biofilms are of immense significance in medical, industrial and environmental settings and so the fundamental information gained from this project will have wider relevance to the field of microbiology. An outcome of this proposal will be fundamental knowledge about the production of surface adhesins that will form the basis for rational treatment of disease in the future. Prevention of aggregation and biofilm formation would make bacterial populations more susceptible to conventional antibiotic treatment.Read moreRead less
Investigating pathways of lipoglycan formation in the bacterial cell wall. This project aims to investigate how the complex cell walls of Mycobacteria and Corynebacteria are assembled. The project will utilise a combination of genetic, biochemical and advanced analytical approaches to investigate individual steps in the synthesis of key cell wall components and understand how the assembly of these components is coordinated with bacterial growth. Important outcomes of this research will be detail ....Investigating pathways of lipoglycan formation in the bacterial cell wall. This project aims to investigate how the complex cell walls of Mycobacteria and Corynebacteria are assembled. The project will utilise a combination of genetic, biochemical and advanced analytical approaches to investigate individual steps in the synthesis of key cell wall components and understand how the assembly of these components is coordinated with bacterial growth. Important outcomes of this research will be detailed information on processes that regulate the growth of bacteria with important biotechnology, veterinary and medical significance, as well as information on mechanisms of cell wall synthesis that may be conserved in all bacteria.Read moreRead less
Molecular mechanisms of pilin glycosylation in Neisseria: a model system for protein glycosylation in bacteria. The disease causing bacteria Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae are important human pathogens. Cell surface structures, called pili, are known to be important in allowing the bacteria to stick to host cells. Genetic and structural studies have identified that the protein subunits, which make up pili, are glycosylated - modified by the addition of sugars. Until recently ....Molecular mechanisms of pilin glycosylation in Neisseria: a model system for protein glycosylation in bacteria. The disease causing bacteria Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae are important human pathogens. Cell surface structures, called pili, are known to be important in allowing the bacteria to stick to host cells. Genetic and structural studies have identified that the protein subunits, which make up pili, are glycosylated - modified by the addition of sugars. Until recently glycosylation of Gram-negative bacterial proteins was not thought to occur, however our recent work with these bacteria, and other groups studying Pseudomonas and Campylobacter, have shown that this process may be widespread. In our previous studies, we have identified and analysed a number of genes involved in pili glycosylation, in bacteria, which make known sugar structures. We have used this information to developed models for how the biochemistry and physiology of the glycosylation system may work. With a well-established structure and many genes already identified, glycosylation in Neisseria represents the best available model system to study this novel and important process. In the proposed study we describe experiments planned to test our models and reveal the molecular detail of this process. This study could lead to major advances in our understanding of this process and, when understood, may have future applications in biotechnology.Read moreRead less