Understanding the Antibiotic Resistance Game: New Secrets of Gene Regulation Revealed

The recent rise in microbial drug resistance is a growing challenge for future therapy of bacterial infections. Increased prevalence of antibiotic resistance in bacteria is an outcome of evolution via natural selection. However, the built-in design feature of bacteria to transfer DNA containing antibiotic resistance, both within the same species as well as across species, is the main culprit for the spread of drug resistance. In order to combat microbial drug resistance, novel strategies need to be developed to block such transmission of antibiotic resistance. My research interests lie in understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible for antibiotic resistance transfer among bacteria (such as Enterococcus faecalis) and developing strategies to prevent resistance transfer. I am also interested in probing genetic circuits that control propagation of infectious diseases (such as Hepatitis C virus), with the goal of discovering novel drug targets for therapy. Both mathematical modeling and experimental approaches would be used to investigate such fundamental and medically relevant issues. In this poster, I will be describing the biological function of antisense transcription, with focus on the regulatory role of RNA polymerase traffic, the main enzyme responsible for producing RNA (pre-cursors for proteins).  Additionally, I will present how antisense RNA regulation can confer biological systems with robust switch-like behavior, controlling critical cellular decisions such as drug resistance transfer in the nosocomial pathogen Enterococcus faecalis and antibiotic production in Streptomyces coelicolor. As an application, synthetic gene-networks with engineered-antisense RNA regulation would be discussed.