Research

1. Stringent Response (SR) Pathway & Bacterial Stress Adaptation
We investigate how the universal alarmone ppGpp reprograms bacterial metabolism and physiology to survive stresses (e.g., nutrient starvation, antibiotics, virulence challenges). Key focuses include:

• ppGpp Homeostasis: Molecular regulation of RelA/SpoT enzymes that synthesize/degrade ppGpp in response to environmental cues.

• ppGpp Targets1,6,8,9: Mechanistic studies of ppGpp interactions with conserved cellular targets (e.g., PpnN-mediated metabolic balancing during stress).

• Phenotypic Outcomes: Linking ppGpp dynamics to antibiotic persistence8, resistance evolution5, and infection outcomes7.

• Single-Cell Heterogeneity5: How ppGpp-driven cell-to-cell variation enables bacterial survival under stress?

2. Phage-Bacteria Interactions & Replication-Niche Barriers2
We dissect how bacterial physiological states influence phage infection and how phages encode proteins that reprogram these states. Key focuses include:

• Phage reprogramming of host physiology: Identification of bacterial and phage proteins that control productive infection, including stringent-response and anti-stringent-response mechanisms.

• Replication-niche barriers: How envelope stress, nucleotide signaling, metabolic state, and growth conditions determine whether bacteria are permissive or restrictive to phage replication.

• Stress-driven coevolution: How bacterial resistance mutations and phage counter-adaptations shape long-term evolutionary dynamics.

3. Translational Applications
Leveraging SR (,etc) and phage-host insights to develop:

• Novel Antimicrobials: Targeting ppGpp networks3 to combat multidrug-resistant infections.

• Phage-Based Solutions: Precision biocontrol agents for agriculture and engineered therapies against persistent pathogens.