Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Campylobacter jejuni (Cj) is a commensal bacterium of many wild and domestic animals and the leading cause of human bacterial-induced diarrheal disease in the developed world. Infected individuals are also at risk for developing chronic conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease and bilateral paralysis. Despite its prevalence, we know very little about the ability of Cj to cause illness, and our knowledge of the infectious process is incomplete. Furthermore, our current antibiotic arsenal is finite, and emergence of Cj that is resistant to therapeutic agents used to treat gastrointestinal infections is a growing health concern. The Cj RacRS system is a type of signaling system used by bacteria to sense and respond to specific environmental cues, including those associated with virulence. Preliminary data has led us to hypothesize that RacRS plays a key role in many aspects of pathogenesis, including animal colonization; however, to date its specific pathogenic mechanisms remain unexplored. We will investigate these mechanisms by (a) confirming that the system functions cooperatively, (b) identifying the genes and downstream processes controlled by RacRS, and (c) elucidating the signals that RacRS senses. A comprehensive characterization of the RacRS system will provide insight on how Cj survives inside the host and the intrinsic adaptability that makes this bacterium a resilient pathogen. The lack of a similar system in humans also makes RacRS ideal as a novel target for vaccine or antibiotic therapy development.