Bacteria are relatively simple, single-cell organisms. Yet, many of the cellular processes in bacteria are comparable to those in human cells. This makes bacteria ideal experimental models for unravelling the complexity of crucial cellular mechanisms.

Our researchers are using bacteria to:

• understand how cells grow and divide (replicate)
• uncover the structure and function of enzymes and other proteins
• determine the molecular mechanisms by which genetic information is processed and translated into changes in cell function

We use a diverse range of of approaches to address the following research themes: 

• Chromosome Replication and Segregation
• Transcription and Translation
• Protein Structure, Function and Engineering
• Cell Envelope, Growth and Division
• Synthetic Biology, Development and Gene Regulation
• Bacterium-host Interactions
• Computational Biology, Bioinformatics and Bioimage Analysis

Advances in our understanding of bacterial cell biology is used to develop new antibiotics and novel tools for molecular biology and biomedical research.