GROUP VOGEL / Project VO 875/23-1
Molecular factors whereby giant phage ΦKZ modulates host protein synthesis
Phages with large genomes and complex lifestyles represent exciting opportunities to discover new molecular factors and principles of host manipulation during infection.
We use RNA and protein centric high-throughput techniques to map the transcriptome and proteome of phage ΦKZ and infected Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells for prediction of novel complexes in involved in the process of usurping the host bacterium.
This project will provide important biological insight into the phage-host interface by identification and characterization of phage proteins that target host complexes with potential for exploitation in antimicrobial strategies and may yield new tools for synthetic biology.
Figure 1: Grad-seq of phage infected cells. (A) Cellular complexes are analysed in a gradient by size and density in 20 fractions plus the pellet. Subsequently, proteins are prepared for mass spectrometric (MS) analysis and RNAs for sequencing. (B) Large complexes sediment in defined fractions, e.g., RNAP and ribosomal subunits. (Gerovac et al. 2021)
Principal Investigator(s)
Prof. Dr. Jörg Vogel
Institute for Molecular Infection Biology (IMIB) – University Würzburg
Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI)
E-Mail: joerg.vogel@uni-wuerzburg.de
Homepage: http://www.imib-wuerzburg.de/
https://www.helmholtz-hiri.de/
PhD student(s)
TBA
PostDocs
Dr. Milan Gerovac, milan.gerovac@uni-wuerzburg.de
Dr. Kotaro Chihara, kotaro.chihara@helmholtz-hiri.de
Publications
- Gerovac M, Wicke L, Chihara K, Schneider C, Lavigne R, Vogel J (2020)
A Grad-seq view of RNA and protein complexes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa under standard and bacteriophage predation conditions.
mBio 12(1):e03454-20, doi: https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.03454-20. - Wicke L, Ponath F, Coppens L, Gerovac M, Lavigne R, Vogel J (2020)
Introducing differential RNA-seq mapping to track the early infection phase for Pseudomonas phage ɸKZ.
RNA Biology 18(8):1099-1110, doi: 10.1080/15476286.2020.1827785.