Laboratory of Microbial Genetics and Gene Expression

Microbial Genetics and Gene Expression

Krásný LAB

Bacteria are the dominant form of life on Earth, inhabiting a wide variety of environments. Without them, life would not exist. The study of these organisms is fundamental to understanding the world we live in, and is essential for developing new approaches to fighting infectious diseases, as well as for new biotechnologies and industrial applications. The bacterial cell is a complex system that is finely tuned to respond to changes in the environment and subsequently adapt. This adaptation depends on changes in gene expression. The central enzyme of gene expression is RNA polymerase. This enzyme recognizes sequences in DNA, called promoters, where it initiates transcription and begins to produce RNA that either serves as a template on ribosomes for protein synthesis or has regulatory functions. Transcription is a multilayered process with a number of regulated steps. Understanding this process – how it is regulated by external influences – what its outputs are – and how this contributes to the fabric of life is the main research goal in our lab.