Our research goal is to understand the interactions between mobile genetic elements, such as bacteriophages and plasmids, and their bacterial hosts. Our main interest is in phage resistance mechanisms.
Accumulating evidence demonstrates that viruses are the most abundant biological entities on the planet. They outnumber bacteria by approximately 10 to 1 and there are an estimated >1030 tailed bacteriophages globally! The result is an obvious selective pressure for bacteria to acquire resistance to phage attack and for phages to acquire counter defence mechanisms. Indeed, many mechanisms of phage resistance are known, ranging from bacterial cell surface alterations, through restriction and modification, to abortive infection. Our research focuses on:
Marsden Fund, Royal Society of NZ (RSNZ)
Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE)
Bioprotection Aotearoa (CoRE)
Zespri International Ltd.
Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung, Germany
Health Research Council (HRC)
European Research Commission (ERC), EU
Marsden Fund, Royal Society of NZ (RSNZ)
Bio-Protection Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE)
Rutherford Discovery Fellowship (RSNZ)
Tertiary Education Commission (TEC)
