Research Projects

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an ESKAPE pathogen that is the leading cause of nosocomial infections. Its “critical category” pathogen status by DBT-WHO in Indian priority list of pathogens highlights the importance of this bacteria. Flagella of the organism is essential not only for locomotion, but also for virulence, pathogenesis and biofilm formation. Thus, understanding of flagellar gene regulation becomes P. aeruginosa has a single polar flagella. The polarity is thought to be regulated by a GTPase, FlhF. Currently the structural understanding of the role of FlhF in regulating polarity in monoflagellate bacteria is lacking. Additionally, the role of FlhF in biofilm formation is not well understood. The work will provide deeper understanding of the FlhF function and its role in assembly of flagella at the poles. This is the first time the atomic level structure of polarity regulator will be studied in detail from a monoflagellate bacteria. The unique insights obtained from this analysis will be crucial in comprehending the molecular basis of flagellar assembly and will help devise targeted intervention strategies. Findings will be highly relevant to other pathogenic monoflagellated bacteria such as Vibrio cholera and Campylobacter jejuni