PhD project

Supervisor: Christoph Tang

Plasmids are extrachromosomal elements in bacteria that confer virulence and resistance against antimicrobials. In the host adapted pathogens, Shigella and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, plasmids have established long evolutionary links with the bacterial species. The project will define plasmid and chromosomal factors that mediate the close relationships between plasmids and bacteria using a variety of methods including genetics, imaging, bioinformatics and structure:function studies.

Keywords:

• Bioinformatics, Biotechnology, Genetics, Medical / Clinical Science, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Structural Biology

Publications:

• Pilla G, Arcari G, Tang CM, Carattoli A. Virulence plasmid pINV as a genetic signature for Shigella flexneri phylogeny. Microb Genom. 2022 Jun;8(6):mgen000846. doi: 10.1099/mgen.0.000846. PMID: 35759406
• Yee W-X, Elsener T, Cehovin A, Maiden MCJ, Tang CM. Evolution and exchange of plasmids in pathogenic Neisseria. mSphere. 2023 Dec 20;8(6):e0044123. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00441-23. Epub 2023 Oct 18. PMID: 37850911
• Elsener TA, Jolley KA, Sanders E, Maiden MCJ, Cehovin A, Tang CM. There are three major Neisseria gonorrhoeae beta-lactamase plasmid variants which are associated with specific lineages and carry distinct TEM alleles. Microb Genom. 2023 Jul;9(7):mgen001057. doi: 10.1099/mgen.0.001057.
• Yee WX, Yasir M, Turner AK, Baker DJ, Cehovin A, Tang CM.  Evolution, persistence, and host adaption of a gonococcal AMR plasmid that emerged in the pre-antibiotic era. PLoS Genet. 2023 May 15;19(5):e1010743. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010743. eCollection 2023 May. PMID: 37186602