Understanding cell division in industrial and medical important bacteria

Every cell must divide to grow and propagate. Thus, a better understanding of this process can help in the development of new experimental strategies to prevent cell division and the spreading of disease-causing bacteria. We have recently identified a novel component of the bacterial cell division machinery that is present in many medical and industrial important bacteria, including the antibiotic producers Streptomyces and the TB-causing agent Mycobacteria tuberculosis.
The aim of this project is to functionally and structurally characterise a novel cell division protein in Mycobacteria using the non-pathogenetic and fast-growing Mycobacteria smegmatis as a model system.