Analysis of new bacillus subtilis genes involved in cell division and sporulation

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Project objective

Research objectives and content A consortium of Japanese and European labs has recently completed sequencing the genome of Bacillus subtilis-168. Some European labs undertake now a project to systematically inactivate and determine the function of new genes of the sequence. The object of this project would be to contribute to the screening of the mutants showing defects in sporulation and cell division.Then, one or more of the identified mutants of interest would be studied in detail:1. Analysis of the phenotype at the cellular and sub-cellular level, 2. Regulation and expression of the gene, 3. Sub-cellular localization of the protein product, 4. Purification of the protein and investigation of its enzymatic properties and interaction with other proteins.Further development of the project would depend upon the nature of the gene itself and to what extent its study can be integrated with other work ongoing in the lab. Training content (objective, benefit and expected impact) At Oxford, the expertise of the lab ln sporulation, cell division and chromosome partitioning would be used to look specifically for defects in these functions. I would benefit of a wide range of useful methods, especially in molecular genetics, biochemistry and state-of-the-art cytological methods, which are well established in this lab. Links with industry / industrial relevance (22) There is considerable commercial interest in this area at the moment, in relation to development of new antibiotics.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

• THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD · OXFORDCoordinatorUnited Kingdom

Links

• View on CORDIS