Research in my group addresses the molecular biology and
genetics of resistance to chemotherapeutic agents in prokaryotes and
eukaryotes. We have accumulated a considerable body of evidence on
the mechanisms of resistance; the genes, plasmids and transposons
which encode resistance; and the evolution and spread of resistance.
We have focussed our studies using multiresistant strains of the bacterial
pathogen Staphylococcus aureus and the common gut bacterium
Escherichia coli. We are extending our work on multidrug resistance
transport proteins to include eukaryotes ranging from yeast to humans.
The projects include:
- Molecular biology of multidrug resistance transport proteins
in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
- Molecular and evolutionary analysis of antibiotic resistance
genes and proteins in prokaryotes.
- Molecular biology of gene transfer in prokaryotes: a model for
cell-cell communication.
- Molecular biology and evolution of plasmids and transposable
elements.
- Molecular biology of bacterial pilus structure and biogenesis.
These projects all provide research experience with modern molecular
biology techniques, such as recombinant DNA technology, DNA sequencing
and computer-aided DNA sequence analysis, site-directed mutagenesis,
protein analysis, and protein structural studies. Our research group
is well funded and consists of post-doctoral fellows, research-support
staff and postgraduate students. We are housed in a modern purpose-built
molecular genetics laboratory.
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