BBSRC DTP White Rose Studentship - Structural and functional characterization of the TAD pilus of the multi-antibiotic-resistant bacterium P. aeruginosa

Surface attached biofilms bacteria are major cause of recurrent infections because they allow cells to withstand much higher concentrations of antibiotics. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a notorious biofilm-forming pathogen that uses filamentous Tight Adherence (Tad) pili to stick to surfaces during the initial stages of biofilm formation, yet there is currently very little understanding of the Tad pilus at either the molecular or behavioural level.

We propose to use cryo-EM, a revolutionary technique to investigate protein complexes at the atomic level, combined with cutting-edge microfluidic experiments, to characterize the Tad pilus. This hybrid approach, combining structural biology, bacteriology, and biophysics, will provide new insights on how P. aeruginosa utilizes the Tad pilus to initiate biofilm formation. Ultimately this could but used to develop new antimicrobial treatments in the fight against the deadly P. aeruginosa infections that routinely occur in cystic fibrosis patients and burn victims.