It has a high growth rate, is amenable to genetic manipulation, virulence can be studied in macrophages or mice and virulence is determined by a large plasmid of approximately 85 kb. Since R. equi is closely related to M. tuberculosis , insights gained in R. equi research are likely to be of relevance to research on this important pathogen, which claims over 3 million lives per year. The Molecular Microbiology group uses R. equi as a model organism to study how pathogenic actinomycetes survive within macrophages. Virulence of R. equi is completely dependent on the presence of a large indigenous plasmid. These tools will allow us to analyse the role individual genes play in the infection of macrophages.
Macrophages represent the first line of defence against invading microorganisms.
However, a number of pathogenic bacteria survive and grow within macrophages and other mammalian cells. To date, research has predominantly focused on the mechanisms by which pathogens invade host cells and evade the host defences. However, little attention has been paid to the physiology of pathogenic bacteria within host cells, even though inhibition of bacterial carbon and energy metabolism would lead to clearance of the invading pathogen. Research in the Molecular Microbiology group focuses on elucidating which growth substrates and metabolic pathways are used by R. equi following infection of macrophages. Regulation of gene expression.