Grant: Operating Grant

Many bacteria surround themselves in long-chain polymers formed from complex sugars. The resulting surface coats are called capsules. The purpose of a capsule is to protect bacteria during infection from attacks by components of the host immune defences. Bacteria that are unable to produce a capsule may be eliminated quickly by those defences. Our goal is to understand how the capsule polymers are built by the bacteria and how they are organized into protective surface layers. We anticipate that understanding the underlying processes will facilitate development of new antibacterial compounds, designed to block capsule production. It is hoped that these will offer novel therapies that broaden available strategies in the light of growing resistance to current antibiotics.