Lucia Lafage

Lucia Lafage

Email: llafage1@sheffield.ac.uk
PhD: 2017-
Department: Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (MBB)
Supervisor(s): Prof. Simon Foster (MBB)
Prof. Per Bullough (MBB)
Project: Maintenance of Staphylococcus aureus viability and how do antibiotics kill?

The bacterial cell wall is essential for viability. The major stress-bearing cell wall polymer that can withstand the internal cellular turgor pressure in Staphylococcus aureus is peptidoglycan (PG). Because of this, PG synthesis is the target of antibiotics such as penicillin.

The periplasmic space between the cell membrane and the cell wall is of key interest in this project, as it is where the final stages of PG synthesis occur and where penicillin acts. Our main objective is to understand how this periplasmic space is maintained when it would be expected that turgor would force the cytoplasmic membrane against the PG layer. This will further allow us to explore the effects of antibiotics on the maintenance of the bacterial periplasm.

Electron cryotomography (ECT) of frozen samples coupled with genetic and biochemical approaches will help us determine how the periplasm is established and maintained. Correlative microscopy using ECT and Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM) will be used to track changes in the cell membrane, PG position and, specifically, the periplasmic space during growth and the effects of antibiotics.

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