Deconstructing Citrobacter rodentium pathogenesis

The control of bacterial infections is arguably the most important achievement of modern medicine. However, the rapid emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance emphasises the constant need to develop new antimicrobial therapies and vaccines. The development of effective control measures requires a systematic understanding of the biology of the disease in the context of the complex interactions between bacterial pathogens and their hosts. The human intestinal pathogens enteropathogenic and enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EPEC and EHEC) use a type III secretion system to inject effectors into infected cells, where they reprogram cell signalling. The global aim of this project is to study the function of the effectors, including the identification of their partner proteins in infected enterocytes, in vivo. The programme will focus on Citrobacter rodentium as a well-established and tractable murine system that serves as the model to study EPEC and EHEC pathogenesis and mucosal immune responses to infection.