Ruairidh Wilson

Email:                   rawilson1@sheffield.ac.uk
​PhD:                      2017-
Department:   Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (MBB)
Supervisor(s): Dr Andrew Fenton (MBB)
                                                                    
​Project:   Mechanisms controlling cell wall biosynthesis in Streptococcus pneumoniae
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a significant global pathogen and a leading cause of community acquired pneumonia. In order to cause infection, S. pneumoniae must overcome the plethora of defence mechanisms the innate immune system possesses, including antimicrobial action by lysozyme.
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Lysozyme targets and causes degradation of the peptidoglycan layer of the bacterial cell wall. High concentrations of this enzyme are found the mucosal lining where colonisation occurs. S. pneumoniaecan tolerate this exposure by modifying the chemical composition of its cell wall. We have used a Tn-seq approach to identify mutants which are hyper sensitive to the action of lysozyme.

This project aims to further our understanding of the cell wall biosynthetic pathway and how S. pneumoniae cells modify their cell wall to tolerate lysozyme stress. Of particular interest is the relationship between the penicillin binding proteins (PBPs) and regulators of the stress response to lysozyme exposure.
The Team
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