Regulation of Infection and Biofilm Formation in Vibrio cholerae

霍乱是一种严重的人类疾病，由革兰氏阴性细菌霍乱弧菌引起。它每年影响全世界300 - 500万人，迄今为止，历史上已经发生过七次霍乱大流行。已知霍乱的“第七次大流行”主要是由O 1血清群和El Tor生物型霍乱弧菌引起的。决定霍乱弧菌感染和传播人类能力的机制仍然知之甚少。研究表明，霍乱弧菌的群体感应和更大的存活率和宿主肠道定植之间存在联系。本项目旨在确定群体感应调节在宿主感染和传播以及细菌存活性中的重要性。

Cholera is a serious human disease caused by the gram-negative bacterium, Vibrio cholerae. It affects between 3-5 million people worldwide every year and there have been seven historical pandemics of cholera to date.The 'seventh pandemic' of cholera is known to have been caused primarily by the O1 serogroup and the El Tor biotype of V. cholerae. The mechanisms that determine the ability of V. cholerae to infect and be transmitted by humans is still poorly understood.Studies suggest a link between quorum-sensing and greater survival and host intestinal colonisation by Vibrio cholerae. This project aims to determine the importance of the regulation of quorum-sensing in host infection and transmission as well as bacterial survivability.