We are using recombinant DNA techniques and immunological techniques to investigate how activated macrophages kill M. tuberculosis and how the bacterium attempts to avoid the killing mechanisms and adapts to survive in hostile in vivo environments. Development of high-throughput screening systems for identification of antimycobacterial drugs is also part of this work. Listeria monocytogenes is a food-borne pathogen that can cause serious disease in man and animals. Food, in addition to being a nutrient, can represent a hostile environment for bacteria. We are using genetic and biochemical approaches to investigate how L. monocytogenes manages to survive and exploit the environments present in foods.
Projects employ a range of cellular and molecular mmunological techniques.
Molecular systematics of halobacteria and alkaliphiles. Molecular methods applied to environmental microbiology. Molecular microbiology I am studying the process by which retroviruses, including HIV-1 form dimers of genomic RNA which are then specifically recognised by viral proteins and assembled into viral particles. SRP function is essential for cell survival, it interacts with some proteins that associate with the bacterial cell membrane. A second interest is the identification of microbial genes which express industrially useful enzymes directly from environmental samples such as sediment.