|
Research Topic
The bacterial cell wall is an extremely complex structure which suffers constant synthesis and degradation to allow the cells
to grow and divide. Besides its immediate structural role, the cell wall also provides a communication platform with the
external environment. In our laboratory, we study the cell wall of the Gram-positive pathogen Staphylococcus aureus, leading
cause of hospital-acquired infections, mainly due to its success in accumulating antibiotic resistance traits. We combine
biochemical and genetic approaches to understand the molecular mechanisms which associate the cell wall
and its biosynthetic pathway to the physiology of S. aureus. |
|
|
Research Team
Teresa A. Figueiredo – PhD student (in collaboration with the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, ITQB)
Inês R. Grilo – PhD student (in collaboration with the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, ITQB)
Joana Rolo – PhD student (in collaboration with the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, ITQB
Raquel P. Portela – Research student
Current Funding
-
“Metabolic circuits in inflicted bacterial cell death”, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia.
Reference PTDC/BIA-MIC/101375/2008 (2010-2012).
-
“Association of extracellular DNA to the Staphylococcus aureus surface: roles and mechanisms”.
ESCMID research grant 2011-2013.
Recent publications
Figueiredo, T.A., R.G. Sobral, A.M. Ludovice, J.M.F. de Almeida, N.K. Bui, W. Vollmer, H. de Lencastre and A. Tomasz. 2011. Identification of Genetic Determinants and Enzymes Involved with the Amidation of Glutamic Acid Residues in the Peptidoglycan of Staphylococcus aureus. PLOS Pathogen. Accepted.
Sobral, R.G., A.E. Jones, S.G. Des Etages, T.J. Dougherty, R.M. Peitzsch, T. Gaasterland, A.M. Ludovice, H. de Lencastre and A. Tomasz. 2007. Extensive and genome-wide changes in the transcription profile of Staphylococcus aureus induced by modulating the transcription of the cell wall synthetic gene murF. J. Bacteriol. 189: 2376-2391.
Sobral, R.G., A.M. Ludovice, H. de Lencastre and A. Tomasz. 2006. Role of murF in cell wall biosynthesis: isolation and characterization of a murF conditional mutant of Staphylococcus aureus. J. Bacteriol. 188: 2543-2553.
Gardete S., A.M. Ludovice, R.G. Sobral, S.R. Filipe, H. de Lencastre and A. Tomasz. 2004. Role of murE in the expression of beta-lactam antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. J. Bacteriol. 186: 1705-1713.
Sobral, R.G., A.M. Ludovice, S. Gardete, K. Tabei, H. de Lencastre and A. Tomasz. 2003. Normally functioning murF is essential for the optimal expression of methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. Microb. Drug Resist. 9: 231-241.
|
|
