Microbiology 690 Seminar

Microbiology 690 Seminar
Monday, November 8th at 11:30am
Identification of novel regulators important for Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm formation

Speaker: Hung Vo, PhD Candidate - Microbiology Dept, Dr. Tung Hoang lab.

Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 934 249 50831

Abstract:
Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) is the major pathogen in the cystic fibrosis (CF) lung and presents a significant risk to human health. When colonizing the airway of CF patients, Pa is known to form biofilms that contribute to antibiotic tolerance and cause complicating for treatment. Three quorum sensing systems, the intracellular signaling molecule cyclic di-GMP, and several transcriptional regulators have been described to regulate Pa biofilm formation. However, the knowledge on regulation mechanisms of Pa biofilm production and maintenance is far from comprehensive. We recently published a spatial transcriptome of the Pa biofilm, which identified transcriptional regulators differentially expressed in spatial regions of a mature Pa biofilm. We determined via a high-throughput screen that five of these novel transcriptional regulators are important for biofilm formation. We hypothesized that these five regulators could be important for controlling and establishing the mature biofilm.
The goal of my research is to further investigate two of these five novel regulators, PA1290 and PA3321, important for Pa biofilm formation. I propose to characterize these two biofilm regulators in 2 aims. Aim 1 is to determine the phenotypic effects of these novel regulators on biofilm exopolysaccharide components (alginate, Pel, Psl polysaccharides), c-di- GMP signaling and quorum sensing modulation. Aim 2 is define overall regulation networks of these 2 uncharacterized regulators by determining their direct and indirect regulation mechanisms of genes/pathways through ChIP-seq and RNA-seq, respectively. Finally, the regulators will be characterized regulator-DNA binding via promoter mapping, EMSA and DNA footprinting. Functional characterization of these regulators will contribute to a further understanding of Pa biofilm physiology and regulatory networks for Pa biofilm formation. This information will aid in development novel treatment strategies for biofilm-associated diseases