Grant: Operating Grant

This work is to study how a bacterial cell controls the production of a virus-like particle (the gene transfer agent, or GTA) that has the sole function of transfering genes from a donor to a recipient cell. Our preliminary work indicates aspects of several changes in environmental conditions, such as the presence or absence of specific chemicals, that affect gene transfer. We wish to determine exactly how such chemicals, or 'signals', are sensed by cells and the biochemical pathways leading from signal sensation to the turn on/off of GTA genes.