ERC Starting Grant · 2018
The wide-spread bacterial toxin delivery systems and their role in multicellularity
Bacteria live in environments where resources for growth are scarce and shared with other bacteria. The ability to inhibit the growth of other bacteria is thus favourable and most bacteria use multiple systems for such antagonistic interactions, including delivery of protein toxins to other bacteria (e.g. bacteriocins, type 6 secretion and contact-dependent growth inhibition systems). In addition to their role in competition, all these toxin delivery systems frequently deliver toxins to cells of the same genotype, i.e. cells immune to the toxic activity, but a function for self-delivery of toxins has never been identified. Recent evidence from our lab suggests that self-delivery of toxins…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.