Revealing the inner workings of the bacterial growth and division by super-resolution microscopy

鉴于多重耐药病原体的日益流行，识别新的抗菌剂和抗菌靶标的需求比以往任何时候都更加迫切。许多细菌细胞生长和分裂蛋白的高度保守和必需的性质，加上缺乏真核同源物，使这些蛋白成为新型抗菌剂的理想靶点。在这个项目中，我们的目标是使用超分辨率显微镜来深入了解细菌分裂和延伸复合体中关键蛋白质的组织和动态。这项世界级的基础生物科学研究通过国际伙伴关系和合作，采用了多种新的工作方式：生物成像/超分辨率显微镜、纳米技术、尖端生物化学、单细胞细菌生理学以及对海量和复杂图像数据的定量分析。这项研究将通过继续前沿的国际合作，直接解决“世界级支撑生物科学”的BBSRC战略优先事项。它还涉及促进健康的生物科学战略优先事项3，因为对细菌细胞分裂和生长机制的更好理解可能有助于确定抗菌剂的新靶点。

Given the ever-increasing prevalence of multi-drug resistant pathogens, the need to identify novel antimicrobials and antimicrobial targets is higher than ever. The highly conserved and essential nature of many bacterial cell growth and division proteins, coupled with a lack of eukaryotic homologues, make these proteins an ideal target for novel antimicrobials. In this project, we aim to use super-resolution microscopy to gain insight into the organisation and dynamics of key proteins within the bacterial division and elongation complexes. This world class basic bioscience study exploits multiple new ways of working via international partnerships & collaboration: bioimaging/ super-resolution microscopy, nanotechnology, cutting edge biological chemistry, single cell bacterial physiology and quantitative analysis of massive and complex image data. The study will directly address the "World class underpinning Biosciences" BBSRC strategic priority, by continuing a cutting-edge international collaboration. It also addresses Bioscience for Health Strategic Priority 3 since an improved understanding of the mechanisms of bacterial cell division and growth may enable identification of new targets for antimicrobials.