Genetic factors influencing the interaction of Pseudomonas aeruginosa with the host.
Suzanne Fleiszig, Professor
Optometry
Closed. This professor is continuing with Fall 2024 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Spring 2025.
Our lab has shown that P. aeruginosa can interact with and invade epithelial cells to establish an intracellular niche. We have recently found that intracellular bacteria occupy a subcellular compartment where they resist high dose antibiotic treatment. We are interested in understanding the factors associated with bacterial persistence and enhanced antibiotic resistance using a genetic approach. Findings from this study will inform our understanding of diseases such as bacterial keratitis and chronic airway infections.
We aim to answer this question by designing mutants in candidate genes and using fluorescent gene expression reporters to study bacterial gene expression in-vivo and manipulating host gene expression.
Role: Training will be provided to analyze gene fragments by Sanger sequencing. The student will be trained to design knockout and complementation plasmids for P. aeruginosa by restriction-free cloning and using these plasmids to generate bacterial gene knockouts by homologous recombination.
Qualifications: Proficiency in basic molecular biology techniques like PCR and DNA gel electrophoresis is required. It will be necessary to schedule the hours between 9a-5p for proper attention to training and supervision.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Daniel Schator , Post-Doc
Hours: 9-11 hrs
Related website: http://fleiszig.vision.berkeley.edu/
Biological & Health Sciences