Regulation of expression and biogenesis of the pneumococcal Rrg pili

• Applicant: Dr. Stefan Fälker
• Subject Area: Parasitology and Biology of Tropical Infectious Disease Pathogens
• Term: from 2007 to 2010
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 49967696

The Gram-positive bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae colonizes the nasopharynx of approximately 50% of all adults, but is also able to descent to the lower respiratory tract and even to cause invasive diseases like sepsis and meningitis with high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Recently, it was shown that initial adhesion of encapsulated strains and the ability to cause severe invasive diseases is enhanced by the presence and expression of the rlrA pathogenicity island, encoding pili-like appendages. As not much is known about the regulation of expression of these pili in pneumococci, this work aims at identifying environmental signals influencing the transcription of pilus-related genes and, by a transposonmutagenesis screen, regulatory factors involved in transferring these signals. Linked to these studies will be experiments to analyze pilus biogenesis in S. pneumoniae. In general, this work will contribute to the understanding of the regulation and assembly of pili in Gram-positive bacteria, which is until now not well understood and which differs fundamentally from the well-studied pili biogenesis in Gram-negative organisms.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: Sweden
• Hosts: Professorin Dr. Brigitta Henriques-Normark; Professor Staffan Normark, Ph.D.