Understanding the Molecular Basis of Chronic Bacterial-Host Interactions

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Chronic bacterial infections pose serious threats to human health, yet their molecular basis is poorly understood in contrast to acute bacterial infections. Thus, to improve current treatment regimes and to aid in either vaccine improvement or development, there is a need to have a better understanding of the molecular basis of chronic bacterial-host interactions. Based upon the observation that the BacA protein is essential for chronic Brucella abortus pathogenesis, this led to the discovery that a gene, yaiW, co-transcribed with the S. Typhimurium bacA homolog, sbmA, is highly important in chronic murine salmonellosis. Thus, this proposal aims to understand more about YaiW, SbmA and to investigate whether there is any functional relationship between these two proteins. These results should not only improve our understanding of the role of YaiW in S. Typhimurium but could also shed further insights into the role of the BacA protein in chronic brucellosis. Additionally, since BacA/SbmA-like proteins and YaiW-like proteins have been detected in a number of medically important bacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, these studies could have implications for the molecular basis of other chronic bacterial-host interactions.