News & Events

When

Date - October 28, 2020
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

What

Title: Identification of Commensal Bacteria Autoinducing Peptides with Ultrahigh Performance Liquid Chromatography – High Resolution Mass Spectrometry

Abstract:

Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen that has become an increasing issue over the years due to its acquired resistance to antibiotics such as methicillin. The development of resistance has sparked interest in finding new ways to combat S. aureus, and other pathogens. Recent hypotheses suggest that different types of commensal bacteria in the skin are able to cross-inhibit virulence in S. aureus, by suppressing the production of its virulence factors responsible for disease. Cross-inhibition is believed to involve autoinducing signaling molecules that are unique to different bacterial species. These signaling molecules are responsible for self-regulating functions in a bacterium that produces them and for potentially disrupting similar processes in other species. More knowledge is needed about how these signaling molecules from commensal bacteria can affect quorum sensing in the bacterial pathogen S. aureus, however, in order to further study these interactions, the properties of the signaling molecules must be known, starting with their molecular structure. The goal of this project is to detect and elucidate the structures of unknown signaling molecules from different commensal staphylococcal species that have previously displayed cross-inhibition activity against quorum sensing in S. aureus.