Date/Time: 31 March 2017, 15.30

Venue: Baddiley-Clark Seminar room

Assistant Professor Chng Shu Sin, Department of Chemistry of the National University of Singapore, Friday 31 March at 15.30 in the Baddiley-Clark Seminar Room.

Title: Bacterial lipid trafficking and outer membrane homeostasis

Abstract: Gram-negative bacteria can survive in harsh environments in part because of the presence of the outer membrane (OM), which comprises lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and phospholipids (PLs) in the outer and inner leaflets, respectively. This asymmetric distribution of lipids renders the OM a very effective permeability barrier against toxic compounds, including bile salts and hydrophobic antibiotics. To build a stable OM with the requisite lipid asymmetry, the transport and assembly of LPS, PLs and OM proteins into the OM must be coordinated. While assembly pathways for LPS and OM proteins have been well-characterized, the processes by which PLs are transported to and from the OM, and their coordination with these other systems, are much less understood. In this seminar, I will describe our work in understanding and characterizing two retrograde PL transport systems in Escherichia coli, and discuss how these systems function in maintaining lipid homeostasis in the OM.

Host: Professor Waldemar Vollmer

All welcome