Molecular unraveling of interspecies crosstalk

PhD ceremony: Ms. L.M. Jarosz, 14.30 uur, Aula Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen

Dissertation: Molecular unraveling of interspecies crosstalk

Promotor(s): prof. H.C. van der Mei

Faculty: Medical Sciences

Interspecies cross-talk is an attractive subject for many researchers due to its fundamental nature but also the clinical relevance. In this thesis we studied some aspects of interspecies communication between eukarya and prokarya. We focused on Candida albicans as a representative of eukarya, communicating with various Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, each using a range of structurally distinct signaling molecules. This thesis contains two parts; in the first chapters we described the development of an assay to study the effect of bacterial small molecules on C. albicans hypha formation, and identification of two additional small bacterial quorum sensing (QS) molecules that affect hypha formation. In the second part we described development and validation in different species (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, C. albicans and Staphylococcus aureus) of a newly designed methodology using a biomimetic molecule that can be used to identify the receptors for QS molecules.