In the Corrigan lab, within the Florey Institute we focus on how bacteria, specifically methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (also called MRSA), respond to and deal with stressful conditions such as starvation.
Bacteria like MRSA produce two molecules when stressed, collectively called (p)ppGpp, as part of the stringent response. This alters their physiology in many ways – including modulating the transcriptome, inhibiting the synthesis of ribosomes and generally slowing growth.
Bacteria like MRSA produce two molecules when stressed, collectively called (p)ppGpp, as part of the stringent response. This alters their physiology in many ways – including modulating the transcriptome, inhibiting the synthesis of ribosomes and generally slowing growth.
The Corrigan Lab
The lab as a whole is involved in studying many stages of the stringent response, ranging from the factors that trigger (p)ppGpp production and how the synthesis enzymes are regulated both transcriptionally and allosterically, to the cellular targets of (p)ppGpp and how they are affected, such as ribosome-associated GTPases and their interacting proteins.
Recently, we have even branched out into the field of investigating potential antimicrobial surfaces based of the structure of cicada wings. To investigate these in more detail, we have been expanding into different specialisations and forging collaborations to increase our potential approaches– notably into biophysics, atomic force microscopy, enzyme kinetics, fluorescence studies and structural biology. Overall, the more detail we uncover regarding the stringent response, the wider our field of study seems to become.
The lab as a whole is involved in studying many stages of the stringent response, ranging from the factors that trigger (p)ppGpp production and how the synthesis enzymes are regulated both transcriptionally and allosterically, to the cellular targets of (p)ppGpp and how they are affected, such as ribosome-associated GTPases and their interacting proteins.
Recently, we have even branched out into the field of investigating potential antimicrobial surfaces based of the structure of cicada wings. To investigate these in more detail, we have been expanding into different specialisations and forging collaborations to increase our potential approaches– notably into biophysics, atomic force microscopy, enzyme kinetics, fluorescence studies and structural biology. Overall, the more detail we uncover regarding the stringent response, the wider our field of study seems to become.
 Atomic Force Microscopy scan of the surface topology of a super-hydrophobic, antimicrobial cicada wing, showing the hexagonal array of nanopillars |  Crystals of RsgA bound to ppGpp, which can be used to gain an X-ray diffraction pattern and solve the complexs structure to 0.19 nm resolution |
