Mechanisms of bacterial-host interactions
The objective of this research is to determine the role of bacterial nutrient metabolism in its interaction with house plants. Bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella are major food-borne pathogens. A majority of the recent outbreaks have been associated with fresh plant produce. Not much is, however, known about the mechanism that are important for bacterial interactions and survival on plants. As the availability of nutrients is one of the major factors that determine bacterial survival, this project will study the role of nutrient acquisition mechanisms in the survival of Salmonella on fresh produce such as plants, eggs, and mushroom. These studies will utilize various techniques involved in molecular microbiological research including bacterial isolation, growth, genetics, PCR-amplification, gene expression analysis, bacterial physiology, and enzyme assays.