[SCAN] How to tackle a tiny but powerful enemy? Fundamental approaches to bacterial physiology

Scan Seminar

Title: How to tackle a tiny but powerful enemy? Fundamental approaches to bacterial physiology

Speaker: Rita Sobral

From: Molecular Microbiology of Bacterial Pathogens, CREM, FCT-UNL

Abstract:

Staphylococcus aureus is responsible for a wide range of infections, many of them life-threatening. An uncommon capacity to develop resistance to antibiotics turns it into one of the most feared human pathogens. In the edge of returning to the pre-antibiotic era, new measures are needed to fight this powerful enemy.
I will briefly discuss some of the fundamental questions we are trying to answer in the lab to contribute to the understanding of S. aureus physiology. We have recently identified a step in cell wall synthesis that has what it takes to be a new antimicrobial target. I will describe the ongoing strategies to characterize the enzymes involved. Also, our efforts to reveal the physiological role of the DNA-binding capacity of the major peptidoglycan hydrolase will be described. Finally, I will briefly discuss observations on the mechanical behavior of S. aureus planktonic cultures along growth.