CAREER: The role of bacterial deaminase toxins in cell physiology and microbial interactions

Most bacteria live in microbial communities commonly found in various environments, affecting processes such as crop output, human health, and soil nutrient cycling. Within these communities, bacteria compete for resources. A method to antagonize competitors is the contact-dependent delivery of toxins, where bacteria directly transfer toxins to neighboring cells. Understanding how bacteria compete using toxins and the outcome of these interactions is fundamental to understanding the natural processes involving microbial communities. In this project, we will study a group of DNA-targeting toxins, elucidating their activity, their impact on bacterial cells, and developing novel tools to study interactions in microbial communities. This project will also contribute to the participation of students in science by providing research opportunities assisting in the design and create assistive devices that facilitate differentially abled persons to perform lab work. This project investigates the bacterial deaminase toxin families (BaDTFs). This diverse group of toxins is of special interest as it can antagonize competing bacteria, induce mutations in targeted cells, and can be used for DNA-modifying technologies. As a recently discovered group of toxins, many questions remain regarding their activity and biological role. In this CAREER program, we will study BADTFs to characterize their substrate preference and structure, explore their biological roles independent of secretion, and employ their biotechnological potential to develop tools to track toxin-mediated interbacterial interactions. At the conclusion of this project, we expect to gain new knowledge of phenomena associated with bacterial toxins, as well as their application as biotechnology tools that can be translated to processes that involve microbial communities and synthetic biology applications. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.