Bacteria encounter frequent changes in their surroundings, requiring them to adapt for survival. One strategy is to promote diversity within their populations. In her research, Inês Calado Baptista explores how differences in gene expression among individual bacterial cells emerge, focusing on transcription dynamics and cell division. Her findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how these mechanisms can be leveraged in biotechnological settings, such as improving the efficiency of bioreactors, and offer valuable insights into bacterial response to antibiotics.
Baptista’s research covers three key areas: how fluctuations in gene expression and in cell division creates variability between cells, how genetic sequences allow genes with the same characteristics to have diverse responses during starvation conditions, and how specific genes maintain distinct expression levels under stress.
"The ability of bacteria to shift between different expression states could be crucial for developing more adaptable systems in synthetic biology," Baptista explains.
Additionally, understanding how bacteria generate diverse responses to stress could help in the fight against antibiotic resistance. Bacteria that can switch between different expression states may survive antibiotic treatments, leading to persistent infections. Baptista’s work provides insights into these mechanisms, potentially aiding the development of new strategies to increase antibiotic susceptibility.
By analyzing the molecular mechanisms behind these processes, Baptista’s dissertation advances the ability to predict and potentially control bacterial behavior, opening new possibilities for biotechnology and medicine.
Public defence on Thursday 24 October
The doctoral dissertation of MSc Inês Calado Baptista in the field of Computational Biology titled Sources of Variability in Gene Expression of Escherichia coli will be publicly examined at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology at Tampere University at 12 o’clock on Thursday 24.10.2024 at City centre campus, Main building, auditorium A1 (Kalevantie 4, Tampere). The Opponent will be Professor Mohit Kumar Jolly from the Indian Institute of Science. The Custos will be Professor Andre S. Ribeiro from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University.