Characterisation of key Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus predation proteins

细菌捕食者牛乳弧菌是一种有用的天然专性其他细菌杀手。Bdellovibrio（分离的全细胞或蛋白质产品）有可能用于各种抗菌目的（医疗保健、农业、生物修复）。我们开始研究这种专门的捕食者识别、进入并杀死猎物的方法。该项目将使用生物化学和结构生物学方法来表征参与捕食的蛋白质。我们将从研究三个不同的子项目开始——(i)一种被证明对捕食至关重要的新蛋白质，我们假设它参与蛋白质折叠；（ii）存在于蛭弧菌中的一种受体，有助于提高杀戮效率，可能是通过以趋化方式将捕食者引向猎物密度高的地区；(3)在猎物入侵过程中调节其他基因的一个新的相关蛋白家族。

The bacterial predator Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus is a useful, natural obligate killer of other bacteria. The potential exists to use Bdellovibrio (whole cells, or protein products in isolation) for a variety of antimicrobial purposes (healthcare, agriculture, bioremediation). We are beginning to investigate the means by which this specialized predator recognizes, enters and kills its prey.This project will use biochemistry and structural biology approaches to characterize proteins involved in predation. We will start by investigating three distinct sub-projects - (i) a novel protein proven to be essential for predation, postulated by us to be involved in protein folding; (ii) a receptor present in Bdellovibrio that contributes to killing efficiency, presumably by directing predator in a chemotactic fashion toward areas of high prey density; and (iii) a novel family of related proteins that regulate other genes during invasion of prey.