Functional biology of clostridial transposons

引起传染病的细菌中抗生素耐药性的迅速出现和传播是全世界公共卫生当局的主要关注。许多负责这种抗性的基因都携带在移动的遗传元件上，这些遗传元件是遗传物质的离散片段，可以从一种细菌移动到另一种细菌。这些遗传元件是大多数细菌中毒力和抗生素抗性基因传播的重要载体。该项目以引起肠道疾病的细菌为中心，并有可能将遗传信息转移到肠道中的其他细菌。重点将是阐明由这些遗传元件中的两个编码的酶的作用机制。这种酶负责将这些元件从细菌基因组中的一个位点移动到另一个位点，这一过程在抗药性致病细菌中越来越被认为是重要的。该项目将采用最新的分子生物学工具，在详细的分子水平上确定这种酶的功能及其相关的遗传元件。这些研究将有助于我们了解这些抗生素耐药元件如何在不同细菌细胞内和细胞间转移。从长远来看，该项目将有助于制定更好的控制和治疗传染病的方法。

The rapid emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria that cause infectious diseases is of major concern to public health authorities throughout the world. Many of the genes that are responsible for this resistance are carried on mobile genetic elements, which are discrete segments of genetic material that can move from one bacterium to another. These genetic elements are important vehicles for the transmission of virulence and antibiotic resistance genes in most bacteria. This project is centred on bacteria that cause intestinal diseases and have the potential to transfer genetic information to other bacteria that are present in the intestine. The focus will be on elucidating the mechanism of action of an enzyme encoded by two of these genetic elements. This enzyme is responsible for the movement of these elements from one site in the bacterial genome to another, by a process that is being increasingly recognised as important in antibiotic-resistant disease-causing bacteria. The project will employ the latest tools of molecular biology to determine the function of this enzyme, and its associated genetic elements, at the detailed molecular level. These studies will contribute to our understanding of how these antibiotic resistance elements are transferred within and between different bacterial cells. In the longer term the project will contribute towards the development of improved methods for the control and treatment of infectious diseases.