Overview

Successful infection of a host organism by a bacterial pathogen depends critically on its ability to make the appropriate virulence factors at the right time and location. This is achieved through the coordinate regulation of virulence genes, the expression of which is typically controlled at the level of transcription by proteins that modulate the activity of RNA polymerase (RNAP). Research in my laboratory focuses on the regulation of transcription in pathogenic bacteria with emphasis on regulators that contact RNAP, and regulators that control virulence gene expression. Several current projects concern the regulation of virulence gene expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a pathogen that infects the lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Other work in the laboratory involves the study of two related transcription regulators from the intracellular pathogen Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of tularemia.