Congratulations to Blanca Barquera, Associate Professor in Biological Sciences, who recently received a 3 year/600K NSF-MCB grant.
Grant Title: : "Control of Na+ and H+ transport in bacterial adaptation"
The overall goal of this project is to understand the mechanism by which bacteria, in particular Pseudomonas aeruginosa, survive and proliferate in many different environments. Transport proteins in the membrane of the bacterium are largely responsible for this adaptation. The objective is to understand how these proteins allow the bacteria to adjust their metabolism to different environmental conditions. This knowledge will contribute to the field of bacterial ecology, as well as many areas of biotechnology, where adaptation to new conditions is important, such as waste remediation, metabolic engineering, and bacterial production of natural and artificial products. The results of these investigations will be applicable to understand bacterial physiology and adaptation. This will also contribute to the understanding of how the opportunistic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa infects individuals, and can contribute to fight this bacterium.