Abstract:  Aurodox is an elfamycin-like specialised metabolite produced by the soil bacterium Streptomyces goldiniensis, that in addition to blocking translation can also inhibit the Type III Secretion System. To gain a better understanding of its mechanism of action and to assess the utility of this compound as an anti-virulence molecule we undertook a multidisciplinary approach to understanding aurodox. We have investigated the mechanism of action of aurodox in Enteropathogenic and Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli and shown that it acts through inhibition of the master regulator of the locus of enterocyte effacement and in parallel we investigated the biosynthesis of aurodox by Streptomyces goldiniensis, identifying the biosynthetic gene cluster for aurodox and dissecting its biosynthetic pathway. 

Biography:  Paul Hoskisson is a Professor of Molecular Microbiology at University of Strathclyde. Paul completed his first degree at Liverpool John Moores University in 1997 in Applied Microbiology, before a short period in the pharmaceutical industry developing Influenza vaccine. He completed his PhD in 2001, studying the gentamicin producing Actinobacterium, Micromonospora, followed by post-doctoral fellowships at the John Innes Centre (Norwich) and University of Aberdeen – working on on Streptomyces. The research in Paul’s laboratory is focused on the evolution of antibiotic production by Streptomyces.

You can follow Paul on Twitter @paulhoskisson

His lab webpage is here http://paulhoskisson.weebly.com