Research in the Rodrigues lab is focused on understanding how bacteria develop into one of the toughest cell types on Earth - Spores.
Spores are dormant, highly-resistant cells that allow bacteria to persist in the environment. Spores are inert to antibiotics and resist common sterilisation methods that kill actively growing bacteria. In the right conditions, spores germinate and generate new populations of bacteria. Some spore-forming bacteria cause disease in humans, animals and insects, and contaminate food sources. The Rodrigues lab is interested in the molecular processes that underlie the process of how bacteria develop into spores. Currently, our research examines these processes in the model bacterium Bacillus subtilis and we will soon be launching projects exploring the sporulation biology of other spore-forming bacteria.
NEWS:
September 2022:
Check out our recent work published in mBio, which includes collaborative work with Simonetta Gribaldo at the Institut Pasteur and Felipe Cava at Umea University.
August 2022:
Our recent collaborative work with Erdem Karatekin at Yale University is now published in Current Biology.
We are currently recruiting a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (24 months). Applications close 14th of September.
April 2022:
Check out our cover in the May Issue of Trends in Microbiology.
December 2021:
Ahmed Mohamed, first PhD graduate of the laboratory, is the 2021 awardee of the University of Technology Sydney Chancellor's Award for "Outstanding Thesis". Follow Ahmed's journey on Twitter @Ahmedbiooo.
Dr Christopher Rodrigues is now based at the School of Life Sciences, at the University of Warwick (UK), where the Rodrigues Lab begins its new chapter. Currently recruiting PhD students.
November 2021:
Our recent collaborative work with Cecile Morlot at Institut de Biologie Structurale is now published in Journal of Structural Biology.
Our recent review with Ian Grainge at University of Newcastle is now published in Trends in Microbiology.
October 2021:
Ahmed Mohamed, first PhD graduate of the laboratory joins the Xavier Laboratory at the MIT-Harvard Broad Institute. Follow Ahmed's journey on Twitter @Ahmedbiooo.
June 2021:
Our recent collaborative work with Erdem Karatekin at Yale University is now published in PLOS Biology.
January 2021:
Our most recent work is now published in PLOS Genetics and Developmental Cell.