Understanding the role of axillary corynebacteria in thioalcohol-mediated odour production

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The production of body odour in humans is the result of the activity of commensal bacteria in the underarm (axilla) working on odourless secretions from our apocrine glands. Previous work in the lab with Unilever led to the discovery of Staphylococcus hominis as being a key producer of the thioalcohol BO component. However, there are bacteria in the same niche that have been proposed to create the same odours including different Corynebacteria. This project will examine the role of these different bacteria in thioalcohol production by continuing to investigate the structural and biochemical properties of key transporters and enzymes involved in the process and start to tease our potential synergies between different components of the axilla microbiota in this process.