Characterisation of autolytic programmed cell death in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms

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Bacteria mostly live in communities called biofilms that are stuck to surfaces and held together by a sticky slime that protects the bacteria from antibiotics and disinfectants. Biofilm slime often contains lots of DNA and other cellular debris that came from dead bacteria. In fact, some bacteria will suicide by exploding to produce the sticky slime that benefits the other members of the biofilm community. However, these suicide pathways also increase the sensitivity of bacteria to antibiotics that cause cells to turn on the suicide systems. It is important that we understand how bacteria control their programmed suicide systems so that we can develop better ways to inhibit biofilms and to develop effective antibiotic treatments that exploit bacterial suicide pathways. This project will explore programmed suicide systems of the important bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa that is a major cause of hospital-acquired infections and is one of our greatest threats due to high levels of antibiotic resistance.