Project
Dynamics and differentiating capacity of stress-induced protein aggregates in bacteria
Given the fundamental importance of protein quality control in cellular physiology, and of proteotoxic stresses in the battle against bacterial pathogens (from food preservation up to antimicrobial therapy), there is an urgent need for a more in depth and intertwined understanding of the management and impact of intracellular protein aggregates (PAs). Using the Escherichia coli bacterium as a highly tractable and relevant model system for both an elementary (prokaryotic) cell and a bacterial pathogen, this proposal aims to address (i) to which extent E. coli can influence or orchestrate intracellular PA dynamics, (ii) to which extent the nature of the proteotoxic stress and time after stress are instructive for the actual composition and the intracellular dynamics of the resulting PA, and (iii) to which extent PA composition and dynamics can have a phenotypically differentiating impact of cells and populations.